Path of the Chosen 3: Doorway to Darkness
by Ferngirl
Summary: Cara completes her journey through Hoenn and decides to visit the distant land of Orre.  What starts out as a simple tour turns into an investigation about the Pokémon whose auras have been corrupted.
1. Beneath the Volcano

Path of the Chosen 3: Doorway to Darkness

Beneath the Volcano

My eyes followed him back and forth, as he dashed between the bushes, kicking up a grey cloud of dust with each step. The sack that trailed behind him was puffed open and filtering the fine soft ash that thickly coated the leaves.

He started running in our direction and skidded to a halt directly in front of me.

"Cara, it's full," Hari announced very loudly, despite the fact that he was just a foot away from me.

"I can see that," I replied, eying the bulging sack he was holding out.

"Do we have any more?" he asked, glancing around for something else he could fill with ash.

"I think you've used them all up," I said.

"No, I have one left," said Ben, handing Hari his own partially filled sack.

"Cool!" Hari took the bag and dashed off again.

"He never ceases to amaze me," Ben said, watching as Hari ran through the ash-coated shrubs that grew at the base of Mount Chimney, his overly-long, tangled dark hair fanning out behind him. He was dressed in shorts, and his t-shirt that was far too big for his scrawny nine-year-old body. As often as I'd tried to get him clothes that fit, he continued to wear mine and Ben's shirts, saying that he liked his clothes to be baggy. On such a simple matter, I decided not to argue. It's hard to argue with someone who constantly has so much energy, so I needed to save it for the stuff that really mattered.

I turned to look at the small mountain of ash-filled bags. Hari's Grovyle was reclining on top, looking as though he'd done all the work himself. Although Hari had done most of it, a few of them were results of mine and Ben's work.

"I can't wait to see the guy's face when we bring him all of this," I said, half laughing. "I doubt anyone's collected so much ash so quickly before. I wonder what he can make with it."

"Probably an entire glass house," Ben snorted. Ben and I were both about 15 years old, but Ben was taller than me by a good several inches. He had light brown hair that was cut relatively short, at least compared to Hari's. Although I shouldn't be talking, because my dark gold hair can be as wild as the kid's unless I keep it tied back in a bushy ponytail.

None of us are related to each other. Ben's been my friend forever. Hari is a newer addition to the group. Long story.

Hari skidded back to us a minute later. "Done!" he shouted.

"Should we bring it to the glass-worker guy?" I asked, again eying the pile of sacks. How on earth were we going to transport them all?

"Yes!" Hari said, beaming.

"You can carry the ones you filled," Ben said wryly. I smirked at him.

"But there's so many," Hari said, blinking at the products of his day's work.

"Are there?" Ben asked.

I punched him in the arm.

"Ow, he muttered, rubbing the injured spot.

"Oh, hush, you big baby. That didn't hurt. I have an idea. Sage can teleport them there for us. How does that sound?"

"All right."

I tossed out my Pokéball to release Sage, my Gardevoir. I'd raised her from a Ralts during out trip through Hoenn. Her back and breast plates were a slightly paler color than most other Gardevoir.

"Can you bring these back to the house of the glass worker?" I asked.

Sage nodded and went to stand by the bags.

"I'm gonna ride!" Hari shouted, diving onto the pile just as Sage used Teleport Hari, Grovyle, Sage, and the ash vanished.

"Let's go find them before Hari does anything crazy," I said to Ben.

A minute later, Ben, Sage and I made it to the house of the glassworker. As we opened the front door, Hari bounded into view.

"Guess what!" he exclaimed. "He says he can make us a big glass table!"

"A table?" I gasped, exasperated. "Hari, we're traveling Hoenn! What are we going to do with a huge glass table?"

"Take it back home!"

I clapped my hand to my forehead. Ben gave me a pitying look. Honestly, sometimes Hari was just…

"Uh," said the glass worker as he peeked out from behind the mountain of sacks, "It will take a while to make a table out of all this, so I can call you when I'm done." He looked understandably flustered by the abrupt arrival of so much ash. Especially since he'd only sent us to collect it just a few hours before.

"Yes, thank you," I said, suppressing a groan. "That would be great." I wondered vaguely if Sage would be able to teleport the table all the way back home. "Come on, Hari. We should get to Lavaridge town before it gets dark."

As usual, I rode Polaris, my Ponyta, and Ben rode his Arcanine, with Hari sitting behind him.

We were nearly to Lavaridge when something caught my eye. I looked off to the side. Steam was rising up from somewhere off-road.

"Hey, guys," I called, "I think that's a hot spring over there!"

"Really?" Ben asked as Arcanine came to a halt.

"Ohhh!" Hari exclaimed. "Let's go!"

I glanced up at the sky. It was almost nighttime, but we weren't too far from Lavaridge. It wouldn't be a problem to get there now.

I grinned. "Okay!"

"All right!" Hari shouted!

"Let's go, Polaris," I said, tapping her with my heels. She snorted and bounded off the path, lightly prancing over the craggy volcanic rocks. Arcanine came loping after us. A minute later, we came within sight of a steaming pool of water.

"Awesome!" Ben shouted. Hari leapt off of Arcanine, threw off his shirt, and dove straight in. Ben quickly followed suit.

Girls don't have that luxury. I ducked behind a rock to put on shirts and a t-shirt that I didn't mind getting wet before I joined them.

I walked up to the pool where Hari was paddling around and Ben was reclining against one of the rocks. Hari's Grovyle was stretched out on his back on one of the rocks. I grinned and then leapt into the air, tucking into a ball just before I hit the water. I sent out a tidal wave of water over Ben and Gro. I surfaced to see Hari laughing and Ben grinning. Gro glared at me, annoyed at getting wet.

Polaris and Arcanine eyed the water. Being fire Pokémon, they understandably weren't thrilled about getting wet.

"Hey, Polaris," I called. "Do you want to stand over there where it's really shallow? That way you can get your legs warm."

She tossed her head and stomped a hoof. _Oh, I suppose that wouldn't be so bad. _

She walked over and stepped carefully into the shallowest area of the spring. She closed her eyes in contentment.

"Do you want to come too, Arcanine?" Ben asked. Arcanine shook his head.

"Let's let out the other Pokemon, huh?" I asked.

"Good idea."

I tossed out my Pokéballs. Out came Plusle, Swampert, Blaziken, Gardevoir, and Flygon.

Ben sent out Tauros, Pidgeot, Blastoise, Nidoking, and Kangaskhan.

Addie, my Plusle, jumped in with us. Swampert (Swamp) and Gardevoir (Sage) followed. Arcanine and Nidoking settled down with Blaziken (Embyr) and Flygon (Tahoe) away from the water.

Tahoe was actually a shiny Flygon. I'd run into her while crossing the desert. At first I thought I was seeing things when a blue Trapinch walked past. When I realized what she was, I wasted no time in catching her.

For a few minutes, we relaxed in the hot water. But inevitably, a water fight broke out. Polaris snorted in annoyance as water hit her mane, sending up a cloud of steam. She walked away to join the fire and ground Pokemon at a safe distance.

When night fell, all of us packed up and headed the rest of the way to Lavaridge Town.

…

"Look out, Addie!"

Addie hopped up out of the way as Torkoal whirled past, spouting flames. She landed away from Torkoal and waited for her to slow down. Then Addie dashed forwards, charging for an electric shock which hit Torkoal just as he emerged from his shell.

"Torrrr!" Torkoal cried, quickly backing away.

"Use Heat Wave!" Flannery shouted.

"Get away, Addie!" I cried.

"Kaaooollll" Torkoal shouted, releasing a plume of magma from the top of her shell. Addie sprang skywards to try to avoid the attack, but the fire spread too quickly and it struck her, making her crash to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, panting. Then Torkoal withdrew into her shell and spun towards Addie again.

"Get down," I said under my breath.

Addie turned away from Torkoal and flattened herself to the ground at the last second. She lowered her tail, making a sort of ramp. When Torkoal slid up the tail-ramp, she suddenly found herself soaring through the air. Addie spun around, kicking the airborne Torkoal so that she flipped upside-down and landed on her back, completely helpless.

"Now!" I shouted.

"Pulaaaaa!" Addie shouted, releasing a Thunder attack. It struck the stranded Torkoal, who finally went down in defeat.

"Torkoal is unable to battle," The referee called. "Cara is the winner!"

Ben high-fived me and I went to collect my badge from Flannery.

"One more down, huh?" Ben asked as we left the gym with my shiny new badge. Plusle and Blaziken walked at our side – the pair I'd used to beat Flannery.

"I still think you should challenge the gyms too," I told him. "You're a pretty good trainer."

Ben shrugged. "Nah. I'm not much of a battler. I prefer…"

"Yeah, I know. You like to work on computers. It was hard enough to get you out of the house to come to Hoenn with me."

"Well, I can't bring a lot of my work," Ben said. "But it is nice to get out sometimes. And I do like Hoenn. But Avalon usually has at least one human around to look after things."

"The Pokémon are there to take care of things,," I assured him. "Especially with our special guardian, huh?"

Ben snorted. "Yeah. Any bad guys who go snooping around Avalon will definitely regret it if he finds out."

"Hey! Hey, stop him!" a voice shouted.

We looked up to see a boy running in our direction. He was gasping, out of breath, and he was holding something in his arms. Then two men sprinted into sight and came after him.

The boy, about a year older than Hari, caught sight of Blaziken standing with us. He made for our group and jumped behind Ben and I, panting and holding the thing tight to his chest.

"Help!" he gasped. "Don't let them take it away!"


	2. Wish on a Falling Star

Hey all! Welcome to all newcomers, and welcome back to those who read the first 2 parts of Cara's story. If you are new, I'll do my best to keep things clear. But please feel free to go back and read them for yourself!

This chapter is an awful lot of talking. But I guess that's okay since it reintroduces you to the characters.

Hope you enjoy! As always, I love reading your comments!

Polaris-Ponyta, Addie-Plusle, Embyr-Blaziken, Swamp-Swampert, Sage-Gardevoir, Tahoe-Flygon

Wish on a Falling Star

As the two men skidded to a halt in front of us, I looked back at the boy. His arms were wrapped around whatever he had stolen, and he was hunched over it protectively.

"It's not theirs," he said, meeting my eyes directly. I could tell from his expression and the desperation in his voice that he was telling the truth.

_Embyr, _I said telepathically to Blaziken, _Take Hari and this boy out of the town. We'll meet up with you later. _

Embyr nodded and grabbed the startled boy under one arm and Hari under the other. Then Embyr bounded off out of sight with the two boys. Ben, Addie and I remained in front of the 2 men.

"What are you doing?" shouted one of the men in front of me. "Are you trying to help him steal the crystal?"

_Crystal? _I thought, confused. "No," I said. "But I think this requires talking while the object in question is not present."

"Why do we need to listen to you?" The first man snapped. "Give it back!"

But the second man held up his hand to silence his companion. "Very well," he said. "That crystal is something we're researching. We have reason to believe that it contains the life force of a Pokémon. We need to learn more about it, but as we were bringing it back to the lab, the boy came and grabbed it and ran away."

"Did he have a reason for doing that?" I asked.

"Of course not!" shouted the first man. But the other one raised his hand again.

"Well, he did find the crystal. He was going to take it, but we didn't let him because it has to be researched.

"The boy has no business with Deoxys," snarled the first man. He realized immediately that he'd said too much, as he turned furiously red and took several steps backwards. His companion shot him an annoyed glance.

I froze. Deoxys? The crystal they were talking about… was it the core of Deoxys?

"What would you do with Deoxys?" I asked.

"Not much is known about it," said the calmer man. "We need to research what it's capable of. Ideally, we'd like to find a way bring it back to life."

I wondered briefly if he belonged to an organization like Team Rocket. Were they trying to harness Deoxys's power for personal gain? But he seemed sincere as he spoke. He probably really was just interested in learning about Deoxys. But I wanted to hear the boy's story first.

_Embyr, _I called. _Has Hari talked to the boy at all? _

_Yes, _Embyr responded. _He hasn't said everything. It's probably best for you to ask him. But from what he's said, I think it's all right for him to keep the crystal. _

_Okay. Thanks, Embyr. _

I paused for a minute. I was faced with a dilemma. I'd bought some time and gotten some answers out of the two guys. The one at least seemed a reasonable person. Except we weren't going to give the crystal back to them. So, what do we do now?

"Are you going to bring the boy back or what?" Demanded the louder guy.

I exchanged glances with Ben. Although I felt guilty about doing it, it was time to beat a hasty retreat. I jerked my head in the direction that Embyr had gone. Ben nodded in understanding.

Addie gripped my shoulder, and I dropped Tahoe's Pokéball. As it hit the ground, my Flygon appeared and in an instant I was on her back. Beside me, Ben had released his Pidgeot and hopped on board. A moment later, we were flying away, leaving the two bewildered guys behind. I shouted down, "we'll make sure the Deoxys recovers all right!"

"That was a strange maneuver for you," Ben called as we flew after Embyr and the boys. "Why'd we run away like that?"

"I didn't feel like explaining," I shouted over the rush of wind. "Plus we need to find out what the boy wants with the crystal. Apparently Embyr thinks his motive is valid."

A moment later, Tahoe and Pidgeot landed in the trees growing around Mount Chimney. Embyr and Hari were standing on either side of the boy, apparently trying to keep him from running.

The boy stared at us as we landed. He was still holding the crystal very tightly in his arms. And now that I knew what I was looking for, I could see the smooth lavender surface of Deoxys's core.

"Let me go," the boy shouted as Ben and I approached. "I need to leave!"

"That's not very polite considering we just helped you escape," Ben said, crossing his arms.

"Do you even know what that is?" I asked, pointing at the crystal.

"It's a Pokémon," he replied.

"That's the core of Deoxys," I said. "It's a Pokémon that traveled here from outer space."

The boy glanced down at the crystal. He didn't seem to know what he'd been holding.

"Why are you in such a hurry?' I asked.

The boy glared defiantly at us. "Because," he said. "Because I have to catch Jirachi!"

There was a stunned silence.

"What?" I ask. "What does Jirachi have to do with Deoxys?"

"Why do you want to know?" He asked.

"We can help," I announce. "You want to Deoxys to recover, right?"

"I don't need… your help…" he said, trailing off at the end.

"You sound like you do need help," Ben said, judging from the boy's tone of voice.

"What's your name?" Hari asked, staring at the newcomer in that big-eyed way that only Hari has.

The boy took a step backwards, unnerved by Hari's eyes. Hari, amazingly, realized that he wasn't helping the situation, so he backed away.

"It's Kyle," he said. He looked at Flygon and Pidgeot. "You have flying Pokémon. Did you say you could help me?"

"Let's hear your story first," I said.

Kyle hesitated, and then nodded slowly. The rest of us relax, reassured that he wasn't going to try and run away.

"A comet came down yesterday," He said.

I wondered why none of us had noticed a comet fall, but come to think of it, we had been on the opposite side of Mount Chimney yesterday, so it wasn't surprising.

"I went to look at the crater," Kyle continued. "I wanted to try to get the meteorite. Except a bunch of dirt had fallen into the crater, so I couldn't see anything. I went down to try and dig it out, but then this strange patch of light or somethin' comes floatin' out of the dirt in the middle of the crater. It circled me a few times and stopped in front of me. It sort of flicked towards the crater, like it was askin' me to dig down. I think it was askin' for help. So I starts digging, but I don't get very far. And then all these guys drive up and chase me out and start digging down themselves. But the light ball stayed with me. I waited around, and then when they finally dug out the crystal, the light ball vanished. Then a little while ago, they started to take it to Lavaridge. So I ran in and stole it."

"And what does Jirachi have to do with this?" I asked.

Kyle eyed me warily. "Well," he said eventually, "Jirachi grants wishes, right? 3 wishes, cause of the 3 tabs on its head. So I can wish to bring Deoxys back, and I can wish for a good partner Pokémon, and I can wish for my parents to let me go on a Pokémon journey."

There was a stiff silence.

"Who are you?" Kyle asked. He glanced at Ben and Hari. "Are they your brothers or something?" He asked me.

"Oh, no. They…"

"Then is he your boyfriend?" he asked, pointing at Ben.

Pause.

"Uh, this is Ben. And this," I said, gesturing to Hari, "Is my pet." Hari grinned broadly.

Kyle stared at me oddly.

Let's see. Jirachi. If Jirachi grants wishes, maybe it could regenerate Deoxys. I sure didn't know how else to bring the crystal back to life. But that presented a different problem. Didn't Jirachi only wake up every thousand years, or something?

"Do you know where Jirachi is?" I asked.

"They say that there's one sleeping on Mount Chimney," Kyle said. "Only there's no way for me to get there. It's rocky. But you have flying Pokémon, so you might be able to."

I looked up at the towering form of Mount Chimney above us. There was a tram to the top of the Volcano, but it didn't access all areas of the mountain. Flying would definitely be best.

"How would we find Jirachi on an entire mountain?" I asked. "And even if we did, how would we wake it up?"

"I know how Jirachi wakes up." I looked over, surprised. It was Hari that had spoken.

"How do you know about Jirachi?" I asked, startled.

He shrugged. "Latias and Latios taught me about some of the legendary Pokémon. They said that Jirachi will wake from its thousand year sleep if you sing to it in a pure voice."

"Singing is for girls," Kyle said flatly.

"Not true," I said. "Guys can be excellent singers. It's not a girly thing at all."

"You do sing though," Ben said to me. "And Hari's not bad either."

That was true. Hari had a surprisingly sweet singing voice. He must have had a lot of practice when he was growing up in the woods.

"But it'd still be hard to find Jirachi on that mountain," I muttered.

_I can help, _Said an unfamiliar voice

I looked up to see a sparkling prism float out of the crystal Kyle was still holding. It was Deoxys. Or at least, the consciousness of Deoxys that was active while it was in its crystal form.

It hovered in the air, examining us humans and Pokémon.

Hari, like me, could talk to Pokémon. But while I had weak psychic powers that let me use telepathy, Hari could understand their spoken word. He was raised by Pokémon and so knew their language.

"You can help us find Jirachi?" Hari asked.

Deoxys bobbed in reply.

"How?" I asked.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked, glancing from Deoxys to Hari to me.

"We can hear what Deoxys is saying," I explained. "Hang on for a minute while we talk."

Kyle stared at us.

"Don't worry," Ben sighed. "I can't talk to Pokémon either, so I'm just as lost as you."

I ignored him.

"Deoxys, do you think Jirachi is the best way to return you to your normal form?"

Deoxys thought for a minute. _I'm new to your planet, actually. So I don't really know. _

Judging from the voice, Deoxys was female.

"So, if you regenerate, are you going back into outer space?" I asked.

_I don't know, _she admitted. _I've been asleep during most of my trip. We sort of go dormant when we travel to a different planet. _

That sounded like science fiction, all right. Putting a crew to sleep as the space ship traveled years to get to a different planet. Did Deoxys often travel to other planets? Were they like space voyagers?

_I might explore this planet while I'm here, _she finished. _But I lost all of my energy during my trip, so I can't regenerate. _

"We'll do what we can to help," I assured her.

Deoxys bobbed, as though bowing in gratitude, and then vanished.

I quickly relayed to Ben and Kyle what Deoxys had said.

"I've heard," Ben said, "that there's this lab somewhere researching Deoxys. Apparently some high-power machine would be enough to regenerate a Deoxys core."

"Can you build one?" I asked automatically.

Ben snorted. "Are you kidding? It would take a team of people months or years to build something like that."

"Even with an engineering genius like you on the team?" I smirked.

"Let's go with Jirachi, huh?" Ben said, glaring at me. "I already have enough to think about. I have to finish that program on my laptop so I can send it off to the Professor."

"Program?" Kyle asked blankly.

"Ben has been designing some computer program things," I explained. "I don't get how he does it. It would drive me crazy. You get these long lists of numbers and letters that you have to type in a certain order, and if you get even one wrong, the thing doesn't work at all."

Ben pulled his laptop out of his bag and turned it on. Interested, Kyle came over to look, relaxing a bit.

Ben brought up a page of solid text. It looked like gibberish to me, but Ben spoke his gibberish well.

Kyle's mouth fell open as he saw the codes. "This _does_ stuff?" He asked.

"If you get it right."

Hari leaned forwards to look and Ben quickly snapped his computer shut.

"You are not aloud within 3 feet of this computer, Hari," Ben exclaimed.

Hari tended to wreak destruction among computers. Having never seen one until just a year ago, he didn't know how they worked. We tried to teach him about them, but he did something that made the computer freeze and lose all of its data. It took Ben several hours to salvage what little he could. Hari is now banned from touching computers. Not that he minds. There's plenty of other stuff to amuse him.

I glance up at the sky. It was just past noon. There was plenty of the day left.

"Well," I said, turning to Flygon and Pidgeot. "Why don't we get going now? We can fly to the summit, and Deoxys can help us look for Jirachi. What do you say?"

For the first time, Kyle grinned. "Okay!"


	3. The Music is All Around Us

Question to readers. I'm experimenting with writing funny stuff. I want to get better at it. Can you tell me if you found anything funny, and what it was? I want to see if I was successful. Thanks!

I had fun coming up with the beginning of this chapter. But I promise there will be more action in the very next chapter.

The chapter title is from a movie called August Rush. It's an AMAZING movie. Especially if, like me, you do music. All of my featured songs are real, and I highly recommend all of them. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd heard some of them already.

Polaris-Ponyta, Addie-Plusle, Embyr-Blaziken, Swamp-Swampert, Sage-Gardevoir, Tahoe-Flygon

The Music is all Around Us

The still afternoon air near the summit of Mt. Chimney was suddenly shattered by a screeching voice.

"It's the CIIIIIRRRRRCLE of life!"

"Stop! Stop!" I shouted, waving my hands wildly. But it was no use. Despite the fact that Hari never ate candy or caffeine, he was on an energy rush. There wasn't much to be done once he'd started one. It might have to do with there being a kid his age with us. Though Kyle seemed rather weirded out by Hari. Not that I blamed him…

And though Hari could be a good singer when he tried, this was not one of those times. Although, with sounds loud enough to wake the dead, maybe this would be wild enough to drag poor Jirachi out of its peaceful sleep.

Kyle stood far away with Tahoe and Pidgeot, his hands over his ears. The Deoxys crystal was tucked under one arm. Ben was next to me, his hands in his pockets. He flinched every now and then.

In an attempt to improve the atmosphere, I started singing the first song that came into my head.

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things!"

Though that was swiftly countered by "Ponyo Ponyo Ponoy sakana no ko!"

"When the dog bites! When the bee stings! When I'm feeling sad! I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel soooo bad!"

It wasn't really working. I was singing louder and louder to try to drown out Hari's voice.

Nearby, there was a hissing sound as one of the volcanic steam vents spat out a hot spray of air. We would have to be careful to avoid other such vents. This volcano wasn't entirely dormant, after all.

I took a few deep breaths and tried again a little softer. Fortunately at that moment, Hari paused to take a breath (his first one in what felt like several minutes).

"Oh what a beautiful mornin', oh what a beautiful day! I got a beautiful feelin', everything's going my way!"

Nope. Still no good. I was too worked up from Hari's… concert. And Ben didn't help by pitching in very loudly, "I wanna be the very best! Like no one ever was! To catch them is my real test! To train them is my cause!"

I clapped a hand to my forehead.

"I give up," I muttered.

Ben grinned sheepishly at me.

"Come on. Let's set up camp. THAT MEANS DINNER!" I shouted over Hari's continued singing.

That made him shut his mouth, and he eagerly followed Ben and I as we made our way to a more even patch of ground to spend the night. This area was very rocky, and would not be fun to sleep on.

Kyle looked highly relieved that the singing had stopped. He muttered darkly to himself as we unpacked and started setting up dinner.

"We'll figure something out," I assured him.

Kyle glared at me. "I thought you said that you had to sing with a pure heart! You guys sounded like a Gyarados with a Sandslash lodged in its throat!"

I gave a guilty laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess we were all a little too worked up. Great simile though."

I handed him a bowl of soup that we'd just heated up. Kyle took it and sat down against one of the scrawny trees on the mountaintop. We'd made our camp in one of the few areas with vegetation.

"Thanks for helping us find where Jirachi is sleeping," I said to Deoxys.

The purple crystal gave a little shimmer in reply. When we'd reached the mountaintop, Deoxys had left the crystal and floated around until she found where Jirachi was sleeping. In this semi-solid state, it wasn't hard for her to go beneath the rock to search.

Hari gulped down his soup and rinsed out the bowl. At the very least, he helped with the chores.

Gro had finished eating and was sleeping up in the tree. The rest of the Pokémon were sleeping soundly in their Pokéballs. Gro never had a Pokéball. Hari had grown up with Gro, and had no desire to put him in a Pokeball. He also has never shown any interest in catching more Pokémon.

"WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kyle suddenly shouted, leaping to his feet and dropping his bowl.

All of us jumped up reflexively. My hand reached for my Pokéballs, without consulting my brain first.

Then a round yellow head appeared from one of the bushes.

I relaxed. It was just a Numel that had startled Kyle.

The Numel shuffled over and started to lick out Kyle's spilled bowl.

"Go away!" Kyle shouted, waving his hand.

"He's not doing anything wrong," I said. "He's just hungry. It's unusual for a Numel to be way up here on the mountain. They're not really good at climbing. They prefer caves. I wonder if he's lost. No wonder he's hungry."

Kyle glared at Numel and took a few steps away before sitting down again.

"Do you want more soup?" I asked Kyle.

He shook his head.

I opened my bag and took out some Pokémon food for Numel. He started eating happily. Kyle kept glancing at him, annoyed.

"So, Ben, what would you wish for if you had one wish?" I asked.

Ben looked up from his laptop, which he'd turned on immediately after finishing his dinner.

"I'd wish to finish this program. It's driving me crazy. I think I bit off more than I could chew."

"That would be your wish?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yep."

"That's boring. What about you, Hari?"

Hari, who was scratching Numel under the chin, looked at me.

"If I could have anything?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I want feet like a Treecko. So I could climb up walls."

Silence.

"Well, that would be pretty cool," I admitted.

"You'd wish for _that_?" Kyle exclaimed, astonished.

"Yeah," Hari said, startled at Kyle's reaction. For Hari, that was a completely logical wish.

"What about you, Cara," Ben said to cut off Kyle's reply.

I looked up at the starry sky, and then over at Ben. "Well… I guess… do you ever think Mewtwo feels lonely?"

"What?" Ben asked.

"Who?" Kyle said at the same time.

"Why would he be lonely?" Hari asked. "He has a lot of friends. All of his clones."

"But there's no one like him," I said.

Ben nodded slowly. "I think he is happy with the clones. But I think it would be lonely to never know anyone the same as him. Like Hari. That's why we agreed to bring Hari with us: so he could know other humans."

"That's what I'd wish for," I said. "Someone for Mewtwo."

"Who's Mewtwo?" Kyle asked.

"He's a Pokemon that lives at my home. There's no one else there like him, so I think he's lonely."

"Why don't you go out and catch another one?" Kyle asked.

I smiled sadly. "I wish it were that simple. What about you, Kyle? Why won't your parents let you go on a Pokémon journey? You said you're almost ten, right?"

Kyle turned away. "My birthday's in two days."

"Happy birthday!" Hari shouted!

"Yeah," Kyle said unenthusiastically. "See, my dad hates the idea of Pokémon trainers. He thinks the idea of kids catching and fighting Pokémon is really stupid, and he won't let me do it."

"What about your mom?" Ben asked.

"She never says anything about it."

"Why don't you just leave then?" Hari asked.

I flinched. What a callous thing to say. Not that Hari realized it, of course.

"I don't have a Pokémon of my own," Kyle said. "That's why I have to catch Jirachi. So I can get my wishes."

"You don't need to catch Jirachi for that," I said. "And there are other solutions to your problems than wishing them away. We can help if you want."

Numel shuffled over to Kyle, wanting to be pet again.

"No!" Kyle shouted, suddenly jumping to his feet. Numel jumped back, startled. "I'm gonna catch Jirachi and make my wishes! Just cause you tell me yours doesn't mean I'm gonna let Jirachi give them to ya!"

He stomped off, dragging his sleeping bag. He set it up away from our camp and dove down inside with Deoxys's crystal under one arm.

"Why's he mad?" Hari asked, cocking his head.

"He's upset about his parents not letting him go," I said. "He got mad at me for trying to complicate things. He thinks wishing will fix everything. Come on. Let's get ready for bed.

Ben and I set up our sleeping bags. Hari, who had given his blankets to Kyle, slept happily in the tree with Gro. Numel curled up under his tree.

"You're always worried about Mewtwo, huh?" Ben whispered once everything was silent.

"Hm," I agreed. "Well, yeah. After what he's been through, how couldn't I be?"

"He's much better off now, though."

I nodded, realizing too late that Ben couldn't see me in the dark.

"I'm sure whatever happens, he's happy with his clone family," Ben assured me. "He knows you try hard, and he cares about you a lot." He paused. "I sound sappy."

I stifled a laugh. "It happens to the best of us."

"You're saying we're the best?"

"Zip it. Go to sleep."

I had just about dozed off when something bright buzzed in front of my face. I sat bolt upright, shielding my eyes from the glare.

It was Deoxys in her sparkling form.

"What is it," I muttered grumpily. It took me a while to get to sleep, and I didn't appreciate being disturbed when I was almost there.

_I thought now would be a good time to try again, _she said. _Now that things are considerably calmer. _

It took me a moment to figure out what she was talking about.

"Oh, oh, you mean singing to Jirachi?"

_Yes. _

"Oh. Okay. All right. Sure." I pushed myself groggily out of my sleeping bag. My voice was gonna sound like a Croagunk when I was this tired.

_I'll use my light to lead the way, _Deoxys offered.

"That's great," I muttered in reply. "Falling down the volcano would not be desirable. Or falling into it, for that matter."

I didn't bother putting on my shoes on or changing out of my pajamas. I followed Deoxys as she drifted away from the camp and out towards the dark mountain. There was very little moon to guide the way, and I had to look at the ground to avoid crushing my toes against a rock.

So when a face suddenly appeared in front of me, I nearly had a heart attack.

I staggered backwards, suppressing a scream and clamping my hand over my thrashing heart.

"HARI!" I hissed as quietly as I could manage through my panic. "Don't you EVER do that again!" This was something I'd already told him a dozen times.

Hari was hanging upside down from the tree branch, his head directly at level with mine. He'd swung down while my eyes were on the ground.

"Whatcha doin?" He asked.

"I was _going_ to try to wake up Jirachi," I growled through clenched teeth.

"Okay. Let's go."

After this evening's performance, this was something I certainly didn't want. But Hari looked calmer now. Or about as calm as he ever got.

"Fine." I turned and continued following Deoxys, who had paused to wait for us.

_Here's the place, _Deoxys announced a few minutes later.

"Yeah," I muttered sleepily. "Sure. Let's do this."

_Perhaps you're too tired? _Deoxys suggested, noting my sleep-soaked voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head to try to wake myself up. "No, I'll do it. Just give me a sec."

I looked up at the stars, admiring their clear brightness. The sliver of the moon looked like spun silver.

"Okay. I'm ready."

"What are we gonna sing?" Hari asked.

I thought for a moment, and then started:

_"Lay down _

_Your sweet and weary head." _

Hari joined in on the next line, adding his sweet singing voice to my alto.

_"Night is falling, _

_You have come to journey's end. _

_Sleep now, _

_And dream of the ones who came before _

_They are calling _

_From across the distant shore." _

Deoxys hovered nearby, listening. She seemed to sink lower as though in a trance.

_"Why do you weep? _

_What are these tears upon your face? _

_Soon you will see _

_All of your fears will pass away. _

_Safe in my arms _

_You're only sleeping." _

Nothing seemed to be happening, but we continued our duet. Even if it didn't work, it sounded pretty good.

_"What can you see _

_On the horizon? _

_Why do the white gulls call? _

_Across the sea_

_A pale moon rises_

_The ships have come to carry you home." _

There seemed to be a very faint glow from the stones on the mountains' face. Was it just the starlight?

_"And all will turn_

_To silver glass_

_A light on the water_

_All souls pass._

_Hope fades_

_Into the world of night_

_Through shadows falling_

_Out of memory and time_

_Don't say 'we have come now to the end.'_

_White shores are calling_

_You and I will meet again. _

_And you'll be here in my arms_

_Just sleeping." _

Something bright seemed to be waiting just beneath the surface of the stone. It made the rocks look transparent and crystalline.

_"What can you see_

_On the horizon?_

_Why do the white gulls call? _

_Across the sea_

_A pale moon rises_

_The ships have come_

_To carry you home." _

The mountain face rippled as though it had become liquid.

_"And all will turn _

_To silver glass_

_A light on the water_

_Gray ships pass_

_Into the west." _

The side of the volcano parted and when everything was still once more, Jirachi was sitting in front of us, yawning widely.


	4. Versus the Volcano

Polaris-Ponyta, Addie-Plusle, Embyr-Blaziken, Swamp-Swampert, Sage-Gardevoir, Tahoe-Flygon

Versus the Volcano

Jirachi sat on the ground in front of us, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Then he looked up and blinked at us for a few moments.

"Good morning_," _he yawned. He used a type of telepathy that would be audible even to normal people.

"Good morning," I replied.

"Hi!" Hari said brightly.

"Something woke me up,"Jirachi said. He gave himself a little push and floated above the ground.

"Yeah, that was us," I admitted. "We needed to ask you something."

"We have wishes!" Hari exclaimed.

"Wishes?" Jirachi asked. "What kind of wishes?"

"STOP!"

We turned to see Kyle standing a short ways away, out of breath with his fists clenched at his sides. Ben was behind him. His hand was out as though he'd tried and failed to stop Kyle from running forwards. Ben's other arm held the Deoxys crystal. Numel was standing at Ben's heels, looking confused.

"You can't!" Kyle shouted. "I need to catch Jirachi! The wishes are mine!"

Jirachi looked alarmed and backed up a few feet. "Catch me?"He repeated.

"You're going to scare Jirachi away!" I warned.

"We won't catch you," Hari promised.

Jirachi glanced around nervously before floating closer to Hari for protection.

"You didn't exactly leave the camp quietly," Ben explained apologetically. "We both woke up and followed you."

I glared at Hari, who was responsible for the racket upon our departure. He looked innocently at me.

"Kyle, we weren't going to take the wishes for ourselves," I assured him. "Deoxys asked us to come try singing again since we'd all calmed down.

Deoxys's light form floated over to Kyle to reassure him.

Kyle relaxed very slightly, but still looked distrustful.

"Jirachi is a special Pokémon," I continued. "He doesn't want to be caught. He _shouldn't_ be caught. He's needed by other people too. You don't have to catch Jirachi to ask him for help."

"I _need_ Jirachi! With Jirachi my Dad will let me go for sure! Jirachi will be strong enough that my parents won't be worried for me anymore and I can be a Pokémon trainer!"

So, Kyle's parents were worried about him, and that was one of the reasons they wouldn't let him go? Did that have to do with his dad not liking trainers?

"There are other Pokémon that can protect you," I said. "See, look." I pointed at Numel, who had walked towards Kyle and was staring up at him. "Numel would probably go with you."

"I don't _want_ Numel! It's just a big yellow blob!" Kyle stepped away from Numel. "I want Jirachi!" Kyle was starting to cry with frustration. "You said you were gonna help me, but you were really just using me, like everyone else!"

A steam vent erupted off to the side, mirroring Kyle's frustration and anxiety.

I walked towards Kyle, who was staring at the ground, his fists clenched again. His tears dripped against the mountain face.

I knelt in front of him, but he turned away.

"Kyle," I said, "We'll do everything we can to help you get a Pokémon and convince your parents to let you go on your Pokémon journey. But what about Deoxys? Didn't you come to help her? I thought you wanted to help her recover. Now, did you really only want to make wishes for yourself, or did you want to help Deoxys?"

Deoxys floated nearby, looking uneasy.

Kyle sniffed. Finally he looked up. "I want to help Deoxys."

"Should we ask Jirachi to grant the wish?" I asked.

Kyle nodded slowly.

Jirachi peeked out from behind Hari. "No one's gonna catch me?"He asked.

"Do you promise Jirachi that you won't try to catch him?"

Kyle nodded.

Hari brought Jirachi forwards and Ben placed the crystal on the ground. Deoxys disappeared back inside of the smooth crystal.

Jirachi landed next to the crystal and looked up at us.

"Jirachi," Kyle said, stepping forwards, "I wish that you'd help Deoxys get her real body back."

Jirachi cocked his head. "Okay." He closed his eyes and placed his hands on the crystal. The eye on his stomach opened and began to flow. The light poured into the crystal.

"It'll probably take a while," Ben said. "It'll take a lot of energy."

There was a hissing sound as a steam vent spat up boiling water feet from us.

Kyle screamed and flinched away from the hot droplets.

"This is dangerous," Ben said, holding out his arm to herd us backwards. "This area must be pretty active. We should have gone somewhere safe before we asked Jirachi to revive Deoxys."

There was another sputtering sound as another steam vent erupted.

"We gotta get out of here," Ben shouted.

Would we be able to move Jirachi without breaking the wish?

"We can't leave Jirachi here," I cried back. "Ben, can you get Kyle and Hari out of here?"

"Are you _insane_?" Ben shouted. "You can't stay here!"

He reached to his belt for his Pokéballs, but we'd both left them at camp.

Another vent spat up steam. This was bad. They were getting more frequent.

_Sage! _I called telepathically. _I need you! _

I felt the response as my Gardevoir broke out of her Pokéball. A moment later, Sage teleported beside me.

"Sage, I need you to make a shield around us," I said.

My Gardevoir nodded and quickly cast a protective bubble around us. As steam spurted up from the earth, the hot droplets bounced harmlessly off of our shield.

"Problem solved," I said, smiling. "Thanks, Sage."

Sage nodded, but remained focused on holding the shield.

My eyes darted around, following the geysers. The ground rumbled beneath us, and suddenly a great fountain of water gushed from the mountain a hundred feet above us. The water dislodged a ledge of rocks, which came thundering down towards us.

Sage looked alarmed. _I can't stop those with my shield! _

I looked down at Jirachi, but he was still pressing against the crystal. How long would it take? The landslide was bearing down on us!

Then something swooped down from above us. It was Tahoe, my Flygon! She hovered above us, ready to make her move. A moment later, Polaris, Addie, Swamp, Embyr and Gro came into sight and stood between the rockslide and us. Swamp quickly fired Hydro Pump, creating a ditch along the mountain to funnel the rocks away from us. Tahoe created another by using Dragonbreath, and Addie used electricity to make another.

Then the landslide was upon us. Rocks rained down, crashing off of our protective shield. I saw cracks starting to form in the psychic barrier and Sage shut her eyes, straining to hold it in place.

Swamp used water attacks to push aside the largest boulders. Embyr kicked others out of the way. Polaris used fire, and Addie used electricity. Gro used Leaf Blade to shatter stones. Tahoe hovered above our shield trying to knock away any rocks that made it past the others. But still they couldn't stop them all. And the rain of stones had only begun.

A large boulder plowed its way through Swamp's Hydro Pump and slammed into Sage' shield, shattering it. Sage quickly used psychic to deflect it from our huddled group. She dropped to her knees, exhausted. She wouldn't be able to put up another shield.

"Tahoe," I shouted. "Come and get Kyle, Numel, and Hari!" Tahoe wasn't strong enough to carry all of us.

Tahoe dove down and landed in front of us. The other Pokémon covered us as I helped Kyle onto Tahoe's back and handed Numel up to him.

"I'll stay and help," Hari said.

I tried to argue, but a falling rock forced Tahoe back up into the air and she circled above the worst of the landslide, using distance attacks to try to help.

Some of the rocks slid down the funnels the Pokémon had dug, but they weren't big enough the channel the entire landslide.

I watched desperately as each of my Pokémon's moves grew weaker. They wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Would the landslide subside in time?

Then my eyes followed a large rock as it ricocheted up into the air, straight at Tahoe's back.

"Tahoe!" I shouted. But she wouldn't be able to turn in time. She and Kyle would be hit!

A small burst of flame shot out from in front of Kyle. Numel had used Ember to slow the boulder! Tahoe quickly slipped out of the way. I breathed a sigh of relief.

It looked like the rockslide was ebbing.

But then I felt a chill run down my spine. A fresh wave was coming. Another steam jet had set off a second slide.

The Pokémon gathered closer together. They were all panting, and I didn't think they'd be able to fend off another wave. They were already battered from the smaller rocks that had gotten through.

There was a vivid flash of light, and I felt panic rise in me. I was sure that the volcano had erupted. But no, it wasn't lava that had made the light. It was something closer.

Deoxys! The crystal was shining like the sun!

Jirachi stepped backwards as the crystal rose into the air. A shape began to expand from the crystal, stretching arms and legs outwards. A moment later, Deoxys stood before us, her tentacle arms swaying and her crystal core glinting in the starlight.

"Everyone, gather closer!" I called. The Pokémon automatically obeyed, gathering towards us.

Deoxys changed shape, becoming heavier and bulkier. She'd taken on her defense form. A shield sprung up around us. It was stronger than Sage's, and when the first rocks struck, it held firm.

We huddled together as the boulders thundered past. They rolled over our protective barrier and flooded around us. It seemed to take an eternity, but finally silence spread across the mountaintop as the last of the stones clattered down the face of the mountain.


	5. Wishes for Friends

Wow. This is a very long chapter. I debated a long time about whether or not to include this. I was afraid it would be stupid. But I decided just to go with it because I really love Mewtwo. I'm trying very hard to keep it from sounding very stupid. If I'm not careful, it'll sound really cheesy and dumb. I've spent a lot longer on this chapter than usual, and not just because of its length, which is why I'm later than I usually post. I hope I do a good job of keeping it lame-free. o_o If I failed, please forgive me.

Random side-story which won't seem so random by the end of the chapter. I once won a Mewtwo doll (back when they sold lots of Pokémon stuff) from one of those crane machines. For some strange reason, they'd forgotten to put the purple color in one of the eyes. I still have it somewhere.

Polaris-Ponyta, Addie-Plusle, Embyr-Blaziken, Swamp-Swampert, Sage-Gardevoir, Tahoe-Flygon (shiny)

Wishes for Friends

As the last boulder rumbled out of sight, all of us stood silently, gazing off into the night.

All of us were gathered in a tight knot. Ben and I were next to each other, pressed against Polaris's side. Jirachi was sitting between Polaris's hooves, looking worried. Hari was holding Addie and Gro. Embyr and Sage, were beside us.

Deoxys finally let the shield and turned to face us. She bowed her head in gratitude.

_I apologize for the inconvenience, but you have my gratitude. _

"Yeah," I said, rather vaguely. I shook my head, trying to clear it of the adrenaline. "Yeah, sure. Always happy to help a Pokémon. And thanks for the save."

Deoxys nodded again. She looked at Jirachi, who'd just flown up to land on Polaris's back. _And thank you too. It must have taken a lot of energy to revive me. _

Jirachi smiled. "That's okay. I got enough energy for two more wishes, and then I can go to sleep again.

"That's right," I agreed.

I turned to my team. "Thanks, guys. You did a great job."

My Pokémon nodded, all looking rather battered and tired, but pleased.

Tahoe flew down and landed beside us. Kyle slid to the ground, shaking badly and holding Numel tightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Kyle nodded and set Numel down. Numel stayed close at his heels, and this time Kyle made no attempt to keep away from the Pokémon.

"I don't think you need to look any farther for a good partner Pokémon," I said to Kyle. I nodded down at Numel who rubbed against Kyle's legs.

Kyle glanced down at Numel, surprised. He hesitated, and then knelt to scratch Numel under the chin. Numel smiled and made happy sounds.

Jirachi looked at us. "Do you have two more wishes before I got so sleep?"

"I assume so," I said, glancing at Kyle.

He stared at me for several moments. Then suddenly he shouted, "Okay! Fine! You can have the other two wishes! I'll ask my parents again! Are you happy?"

We stared at him.

"Hurry before I change my mind," Kyle snapped, turning away from us.

I glanced at Hari and Ben.

"I like climbing," Hari said, "but I think your wishes are better than mine. So you guys should go."

Sometimes Hari amazed me. Apparently Ben thought the same thing, because he grabbed Hari and scruffed up his hair.

"You go first," I said to Ben. I wanted to think about how I could explain my wish to Jirachi.

Ben nodded and released Hari, to stand in front of Jirachi. The rest of us watched.

"See," Ben said, "There's this computer program I'm writing. But it's really complicated, and it's gonna take months to finish, especially since I don't have that much time to work on it while we're traveling. But it's a database of all the Pokémon attacks. It analyzes the power of every single attack based on the species, level, and stats of the Pokémon, how they were raised, and what their current emotions are. It even includes outside factors. It would be used by judges for important battles and competitions so they can analyze battle strategies. There so many variations of every move that it'd take forever to finish."

"Okay. That shouldn't be too hard. Give me a minute."

"Do you need me to bring my laptop?" Ben asked.

"No, I can do it."

"But my laptop's not even on!"

I poked him in the ribs to make him be quiet. "Let Jirachi do his thing," I hissed.

Jirachi closed his eyes, and we waited for a minute. I glanced around when I heard another steam vent go off, but this one was small and didn't cause any more rockslides. And besides we had Deoxys with us this time.

Jirachi opened his eyes again. "It's done," he announced.

"That was so fast!" Ben gasped. The prospect of a few months work condensed into a minute was staggering to him.

"Your turn, Cara," Hari announced.

I nodded. I stepped in front of Jirachi.

"Um, let's see if I can explain. There's a friend of mine. He's a Pokémon, but he's the only one of his kind. And I really would like for him to have someone like him. I don't want him to be… alone his whole life. Ya know?"

"Who is it?" Jirachi asked.

"His name's Mewtwo."

Mew_two_," Jirachi repeated. "Two?"

I nodded. "He was, uh, cloned from Mew."

"I see."

"Do you need to meet him?" I asked.

"No. I can read your wish, so I know exactly what you want. But I've never made a Pokémon before," Jirachi said thoughtfully.

"Uh, is it possible?" I asked hesitantly.

Jirachi smiled. "Sure! No problem! But it'll take a while."

"Yeah. Please, take all the time you need."

"I should be done some time tomorrow," Jirachi replied.

That wasn't too long at all. "That's great. Thanks sooo much!" I gasped. Could it really happen? Would it really be possible for there to be another Mewtwo? Considering what Mewtwo had been through and what he'd almost done after escaping Giovanni, would it even be safe? Except this time would be different.

"You can leave me alone for the day so I can concentrate," Jirachi informed us.

"What if there's another landslide?" I asked.

_I can stay with him, _Deoxys offered. _And then I can come and get you when he's almost done. _

I nodded. "Thanks guys. I guess… we should head back to camp and try to get some sleep. I'll check on you in the morning before we take Kyle back home."

Kyle looked away. He didn't seem to be looking forward to confronting his parents. Numel rubbed against him to comfort him.

Jirachi settled beneath a little ledge on the ground and closed his eyes. Deoxys nodded to us. The rest of us turned and headed back to camp.

…

It was hard to get to sleep considering we'd spend much of the night dodging falling boulders. But at least we got to sleep in.

"You have a lot of hair," Kyle noted as I ran a brush across my bushy head.

"This is nothing compared to Hari," I replied, restraining my hair into a ponytail. "He's a mop head. "

"Mop head?" Hari repeated, cocking his head. Considering his hair was covering half of his face, the effect was quite comical.

I laughed. "Yeah, if we flipped you upside-down, we could use you to clean the floor. Hey, Ben, why don't you try it?"

"I'd drop him on his head by accident," Ben replied, looking up from his laptop in order to tend to the scrambled eggs. "This is amazing," he muttered. "Jirachi really did finish my program!"

"Why would you drop him?" I asked. "It's not like he's that heavy. He's really scrawny. I can pick him up. I can pick _you_ up. Actually, I can even pick my dad up."

Ben raised an eyebrow at me.

"Look!" Hari shouted. He'd climbed up into the tree and was hanging by his knees from one of the branches. This served to display his mop hair. It tangled around his face as he hung upside-down and swung back and forth.

"Don't fall on your head," I said, smirking. I knew he wouldn't. He was more at home in trees than he was in cities and towns.

Before breakfast was done, I went to find Deoxys.

She was still there, watching over Jirachi.

"How's it going?" I whispered to Deoxys.

_There hasn't been any more danger. He's been working all night_. _ I assume it's going well. _

"Do you want to come and say goodbye to Kyle before he goes home?"

_Yes, that would be a good idea. I need to thank him for helping me. _

I grinned. "It was a brave thing for him to do, wasn't it?"

_Yes. He's a tough child. _

Deoxys stayed with us as we ate breakfast and packed up our camp. She bid Kyle farewell as we prepared to fly down the mountain.

_I'll visit you again, _Deoxys promised him. _Thank you for your help. I couldn't have made it back without all of you. _

Kyle and Ben climbed on Pidgeot, and Hari and I got on Tahoe. Kyle waved to Deoxys as we took to the sky and circled down to Lavaridge Town.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" I asked Kyle as we landed in his neighborhood.

He slid off of Pidgeot's back and set Numel on the ground. He looked at me as though he was going to agree, but then he stopped and shook his head.

"No. I can do it myself," he said, drawing himself up confidently. He and Numel turned and walked up the path to his house. Kyle hesitated before opening the door, and the pair vanished inside.

"Think they'll be okay?" Ben asked.

"I think so. Kyle's pretty tough."

"Are we gonna go back and wait Jirachi and Deoxys?" Hari asked.

"We shouldn't bother Jirachi until he's done. We can wait at the Pokémon Center while our team recovers from fighting a volcano. Maybe I'll leave a note for those guys that Kyle stole Deoxys from. I think they deserve to know what happened and why we ran out on them."

Nurse Joy healed our Pokemon, and waited in the lobby. Ben was occupied with his new computer program. Hari played with the Pokémon, and I read a book.

It was the early evening when I saw Deoxys outside the Center window. I was outside to meet her in a flash. Tahoe and I followed her back up the mountain with Ben and Hari behind us on Pidgeot.

We found Jirachi sitting in front of a great ball of light that would have been big enough for me to fit into if I curled up. The light seemed thick somehow. Almost like liquid light. I wanted to touch it to see what it felt like, but I didn't think that would be the best idea. Jirachi's eyes were still closed, although the true eye on his stomach was open and feeding light to the strange bright form.

Ben and Hari landed a short ways away.

_He's almost done, _Deoxys said.

I sat down beside Jirachi, my heart pounding nervously. What was going to happen? What would the new Mewtwo be like? What would I saw to it?

Something touched my shoulder. I looked up to see Deoxys who'd touched me with one of her hands.

_This Mewtwo must mean a lot to you, for you to wish a friend for him. _

I nodded. "Yeah. He's… a very good friend. I worry about him sometimes. I mean… he's been through a lot."

_You're both lucky to be each other's friends. Look. _

The globe of light seemed to be taking on a shape. Whatever it was was curled up. As the outline grew more defined, I could see a vaguely human-shaped body with a long tail curled against the back. The arms were crossed across its chest, and its feet were tucked up. As the light faded more, I could see that its eyes were closed.

At long last, the glow from Jirachi's power faded and another Mewtwo was before us.

I noticed that my hands were visibly shaking. I was thinking about how the first Mewtwo had come into the world and was immediately filled with hate and distrust. I couldn't let that happen with this one.

I hesitatingly put my hand on the Mewtwo's shoulder. It raised its head and slowly opened its eyes to look at me. The iris of one of its eyes was white, as though the color had been sapped out of it. Yet it didn't seem as though that eye was blind.

I smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh," said the Mewtwo quietly. From the voice, I could tell she was female. She looked down at her hands as she flexed her fingers.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Cara."

She looked around, at Tahoe, Jirachi and Deoxys. Then she saw Ben, Hari and Pidgeot farther away, watching in fascination. I beckoned them forwards.

"These are my friends," I said, quickly introducing each of them.

"Hi," she said uncertainly. She seemed like a very quiet person. No doubt shy.

I wondered how she must have felt. What would it be like to come so suddenly into the world?

"I bet you're hungry," I said. "Why don't we all have something to eat? It's almost dinnertime. Do you want anything to eat, Jirachi?"

"All right. Then I'll go back to sleep. I'm tired."

"Good! We can all eat together before we split up. Come on, guys! Let's make dinner!"

We let all of our Pokémon out and started making sandwiches. I showed Mewtwo how to put one together. Hari made several to feed to the Pokémon. Jirachi seemed to regain some of his energy surrounded by energetic people and Pokémon. I didn't notice Deoxys eat anything. I wondered if Deoxys even ate, considering she didn't have a mouth, but I wasn't sure it was polite to ask.

With company and food, the new Mewtwo opened up a little more. Though she didn't talk much, she did smile. To try to get her involved with the group, I told her about how Jirachi and Deoxys had helped us, and how I'd made a wish for a second Mewtwo. Then I explained how I'd met Mewtwo. I didn't go into too much detail, and I left out some of the darker parts. That could wait till later. Right now, I just wanted her to enjoy herself.

The sun touched the horizon, spilling its colors across the sky. Jirachi yawed one final time. "I think I'm going to go to sleep now. I'm tired. It was nice meeting all of you!"

"It was nice meeting you too, Jirachi. Thank you for granting out wishes." I patted his head and Hari hugged him before placing him in the spot where we'd found him.

_You have my gratitude as well, _Deoxys said. "It's your energy that lets my fly freely once more."

"I suppose that's the same for me as well," said the female Mewtwo. "Thank you, Jirachi."

We all watched as the mountain opened up and began to fold over Jirachi once more. The moment before he vanished, I caught his eyes one last time.

"Bye," I whispered.

The mountain closed up, and Jirachi was gone. We were silent for a moment.

_I suppose I should be on my way too, _Deoxys sighed.

"You're leaving too?" I asked.

She nodded. _I think it's time._ _I'll check on Kyle often, make sure he's okay. And if you ever need me for anything, don't hesitate to call. _

"Yeah, I will. Come by and visit us when you can. You're welcome at Avalon any time."

Deoxys bowed her head, and then lifted off of the volcano. She hovered above us for a moment before gliding away into the sunset.

"Do I have a name?" Mewtwo asked suddenly.

I looked up and my gaze fell on her white eye. The colors of the sunset were reflected on the whiteness.

"Lily," I said automatically.

"Lily, she repeated. She contemplated the name for a few moments.

"Would you like to go to Avalon and meet Mewtwo?" I asked.

Lily looked around at Ben, Hari, and or Pokémon. Then she smiled. "All right."

Lily, Sage and I moved to the side. It would just be the three of us going back. I wouldn't be gone long, so Ben and Hari would wait for me at Lavaridge.

"Okay, Sage. Take us to Avalon."

Teleport brought us to the front porch of the house on Avalon. The red glow from the sunset washed over the field before us, and touched the trees of the forest beyond. The mountain stood dark against the bright sky.

"Wow," I muttered. "I wonder what Mewtwo's gonna say. I'm sure you're the last person he'd ever expect to meet." I smiled at the thought of what his reaction might be. "I have an idea. Can you float us up to the balcony?" I pointed to the porch on the side of the house. I was fully aware that it was the first time she had used her psychic powers, but I also knew what Mewtwo were capable of.

She nodded, and a blue light flared up around her, surrounding Sage and I. Our feet left the ground and we floated lightly up to the balcony.

I opened the door to my room and beckoned her inside. "I'll call you when we're ready," I said.

She nodded and sat down on my bed. I pulled the door most of the way closed and then stood at the edge of the balcony. Sage stood next to me.

_Mewtwo, _I called. _Can you hear me? _

There was a pause.

_Cara? _

_Yeah. I'm here at Avalon. There's something I need to tell you. _

_Is something wrong? _

_Well, can you meet me at the balcony? _

There was another brief pause. He knew I wouldn't call him for no reason. _Very well. I'm coming. _

A moment later, I saw Mewtwo gliding through the darkening sky. He landed on the balcony with Sage and I.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Actually… there's someone I want you to meet."

"Someone?"

"Lily, you can come out now."

The door opened and Lily stepped into the moonlight. She looked at Mewtwo who stood rigid with his mouth open. He was silent for what felt like a long time. Lily bowed her head, not sure what she should say.

"Where… where did you come from?" Mewtwo gasped. "You… you can't be a Pokémon using Transform. I can tell." He took a hesitating step forwards. "You said… your name is Lily?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Mewtwo slowly reached out and touched Lily's hand as though to make sure she was real.

"It's nice to meet you, Lily."


	6. Delta

Trying something a it different this time.

It's been a while since I've written a good battle, so this was fun.

If any of you know anything about the Pokémon cards, you've probably heard of the Delta species of Pokémon. You get Pokémon such as an electric/steel type Rayquaza, a fire/steel type Mewtwo, or a fire type Bagon. There also seems to be a lot of Delta Rayquaza cards. Hmm...

Bulbapedia has the back story of the Delta species, which I've always wondered about.\.

Polaris-Ponyta, Addie-Plusle, Embyr-Blaziken, Swamp-Swampert, Sage-Gardevoir, Tahoe-Flygon (shiny)

Delta

"Tahoe! Cover Swamp!"

Tahoe swooped down and used her wings to knock Lunatone backwards. Lunatone spun towards Solrock, and the pair of them faced Tahoe and Swamp.

Across from me, Tate and Liza called orders to their Pokémon. Lunatone put up a shimmering Light Screen in front of itself, and Solrock created a Reflect. The two rock types clung close together behind the protection of their double shield.

I grit my teeth. It would be hard to do much damage through that shield.

Lunatone and Solrock started firing out Psywaves. Tahoe darted up out of the way of them, but Swamp wasn't as fast, and several of the attacks hit him.

_Use Surf! _I called.

Swamp reared up and called out. A wall of water rose up in front of him and crashed down on Solrock and Lunatone. Light Screen blocked the worst of the attack.

Then the two of them began to glow. They were using Cosmic Power to further raise their defense stats.

_Tahoe! Use Faint Attack! Quickly! Try to cut off their attack! _

Tahoe dove downwards. She suddenly disappeared and appeared in a different place, darting in to strike at her opponents. But they'd already finished boosting their stats. They shook off Tahoe's attack, and immediately used Harden.

This was maddening! Even super-effective attacks were barely chipping away at them!

_Try Muddy Water! _

At the very least, I could try to reduce some of their other stats.

Swamp send out a wave of murky water at the same time that Tahoe sent Dragonbreath down on them.

Lunatone and Solrock weren't fighting back. They were just revolving behind their shields, taking attacks. Even with good defense, they should be at least trying to attack. Suddenly I understood.

"Look out!" I shouted.

Tahoe swerved to the side and Swamp backed up as the air exploded directly in front of each of them. Lunatone and Solrock had not been idle. They had been using Future Sight to set booby traps.

_Keep moving! Don't let them guess where you're going to move next! And keep attacking! Don't let them rest! _

Swamp charged along the ground, drenching his opponents every few seconds. Tahoe darted back and forth through the air, sending Dragonbreath down to whittle away at their HP.

Future Sight continued to flash in front of them. Tahoe managed to dodge most of them. Swamp wasn't as fast at dodging, but he managed to take the attacks without suffering too much from them.

I watched Solrock and Lunatone closely, keeping an eye on Reflect and Light Screen. But the shields remained strong.

Suddenly Future Sight struck Tahoe dead-center. She cried out and dropped several feet towards Swamp before catching herself.

Solrock and Lunatone suddenly whirled around and launched out Rock Slide, catching both Tahoe and Swamp.

Tahoe crashed to the ground beneath the barrage of boulders. Swamp stood over her to shield her from the worst of it, but she was already badly hurt. It wouldn't take much to finish her off, and she was too battered to fly again.

But the timing was about right. We'd whittled our opponents down enough that one final powerful attack should be enough to finish it. And with the dual shield still up, Tate and Liza wouldn't be worried about such a thing. Luckily…

_Tahoe, use Screech! _I exclaimed.

Tahoe opened her mouth and let out a high-pitched scream that rang through the stadium. Solrock and Lunatone faltered slightly. In that instant, Swamp charged forwards. But he wasn't very fast. Solrock and Lunatone quickly recovered and turned to prepare an attack.

Then Tahoe whipped up a gust of wind with her wings, propelling Swamp forwards. Swamp rode the air current and brought his arm around, crashing Brick Break right into their dual shield. The shield shattered, and the startled Solrock and Lunatone were slammed backwards into the wall. They slumped to the ground.

The judge held out his arm. "Solrock and Lunatone are unable to battle! Cara is the winner!"

"Whew," I gasped. "Thanks, guys. Great work." I returned Swamp and Tahoe so they could rest.

Across from me, Tate and Liza returned their Pokémon.

"That was pretty impressive," they chimed, walking up to me. "Usually when people use Brick Break to break through a shield," Tate said, "They do it right at the beginning," Liza finished. "They don't usually wait till the end, so we assumed you didn't have any attacks like that," they concluded.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I knew you'd keep boosting defense no matter what I did, so I chipped away a bit at a time, and when I thought I had it low, I cut your defense and finished it with one last hit."

They nodded in approval and handed me my badge. I grinned. "Thanks for the battle!"

…

"Holon?" I repeated, looking at my map. We'd returned to the mainland after I'd battled Tate and Liza. There was something Ben had to do before we continued to Sootopolis. "I've never heard of Holon before. Where is it on the map?"

"Here," Ben pointed. "Someone sent me a message about the research scientists are doing there."

"Involving computers?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It sort of involves the program I just designed. Or… Jirachi designed. But it involves you."

"Me?" I repeated.

Ben nodded. "See, actually, the researchers there were trying to find Mew."

I froze and stared at him.

"Don't worry. They didn't succeed," Ben assured me. "And I doubt they're likely to either. See, the thing is, their experiment went wrong a few weeks ago. They think it affected the Pokémon near Holon. Ever since the incident, people have been reporting that Pokémon there are different."

"That's vague," I said. "Did any of them grow extra heads?"

"Only if it was an evolving Doduo," Ben replied coolly.

"Haha," I said, not sounding overly amused.

"What it is," Ben continued, "Is that Pokémon are using attacks that they don't normally know. Like Horsea with Ember, or Gligar with Thundershock."

"Really?" I asked, immediately interested. "Oh, so because you designed that program about Pokémon moves, they want you want to check out why Pokémon are using moves they shouldn't be able to?"

Ben nodded. "And also, we should make sure that nothing worse is going on around there. We don't want the Pokémon to be sick, but we should make sure Holon can't do anything about Mew, right?"

"Definitely," I agreed. "If they pose a threat to Mew… I'll explode their lab."

"I believe it," Ben muttered. When we rescued Mew from Team Rocket a few years ago, we'd left their base in a pretty bad state.

"You'd blow a place up?" Hari asked, his eyes widening to the enormous size that only he could manage.

"Don't take me seriously, Hari," I replied. "Shall we fly?"

"Sure," Ben agreed. "Let's get going."

…

A while later, we landed at the outskirts of a small, dull-looking town. The color seemed to have leeched from it.

"This place is creepy," I muttered as I returned Tahoe. "Does anyone actually live here?"

"Some," Ben replied. "It's an old place. The researchers moved here because of the small population."

"That sounds suspicious," I said.

"Why?" Hari asked.

I shrugged. "It's like they don't want people watching them. Like they're up to no good."

"Not necessarily," Ben said. "Some labs work with dangerous compounds, so they work away from large populations in case of an accident."

"I hope your right," I said. "Although in this case, whatever they were working with definitely affected the Pokémon. I hope it's nothing that actually hurts them."

We continued down the road until the large lab came into view. It was next to a range of rolling hills. I paused and stared at them. That was good Pokémon habitat, right next to the lab.

"Hey, Ben," I said.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"I'm gonna go check out the hills over there and see what Pokémon I can find. Do you want to go ahead to the lab without us? That way you can talk tech with those guys."

"What if they're evil people that want to kidnap me?" he asked, grinning.

"If you get attacked, send a Pokémon to get me. I'll come to the rescue of the damsel in distress."

Ben made to tackle me. I dashed off, towards the hills, laughing. Hari followed with Gro clinging to his shoulder.

Ben gave up the chase fairly quickly and continued on to the lab. Hari, Gro and I reached the hills. When we stopped running, Gro hopped back to the ground.

Hari dashed up the nearest hill and peered around. Then he started running back down. The downward slope increased his momentum so much that he nearly crashed into me. Gro bounded out of the way to avoid being trampled. Hari was partly up the next hill before he managed to stop himself.

"See anything?" I asked as he doubled back.

Hari nodded. "Yeah. There's some Pokémon over there." He pointed to the other side of the hill he'd just run up.

"Okay. Let's check it out."

Beyond the hill was a craggy area that was dotted with small caves. And a small group of Larivtar was lounging among the rocks.

"Okay," I said, crouching behind a rock. "So, we should battle one to see if it has any strange attacks."

Hari nodded.

I let Addie out.

"Addie, go and battle one of those Larvitar, okay?" I asked.

She nodded and hopped out from behind the rock. The startled Larvitar dove back into the rocks. Hari and I watched her as she dashed in and blocked one of the Larvitar from escaping. Addie dodged around her opponent, using Agility and Quick Attack to harass her. Larvitar swatted at Addie, and finally opened her mouth and used Ember.

That was it. A Larvitar with Ember.

_Addie, try using Thundershock, _I said. Larvitar was a ground type. Thundershock shouldn't work on it. But if my hunch was right…

Addie obeyed and zapped Larvitar.

Larvitar cried out and dropped to her knees. So, that was it. Larvitar was actually a fire type. The Pokémon in this area had actually become a completely different type.

I grabbed a Pokéball and stood up, throwing it at Larvitar, who vanished inside with a flash of red. The Pokéball rocked back and forth a couple times before it fell still.

I walked over and bent to retrieve retrieved the Pokéball. I used the button on my Pokégear to cancel the transport of the Pokéball back to Avalon. Ben had rigged up that handy little feature for me.

I opened the Pokéball and Larvitar her out.

She glanced around, confused. I knelt in front of her.

"Hi, Larivtar," I said.

"Lar?" She replied.

"Did you start learning fire attacks a couple weeks ago?"

"Larvi," she said, nodding. _It was when the humans started running around that big building over there, _she said.

The researchers must have been running around in a panic when their experiment went wrong.

"Did it make you feel sick?" I asked.

_I did feel dizzy and queasy for a while after, _Larvitar admitted. _I'm getting better though. _

"You don't think it made you very sick?"

_I don't think so. But it's hard trying to figure out what to do with fire. _

"I'll bet. Thank you, Larvitar." I returned her and sent the Pokéball back to Avalon. I was eager to spend some time training her. A fire-type Larvitar… very interesting.

"Come on, Hari," I said.

We walked deeper into the hills. It had been some time since I'd caught several Pokémon at once, but I did it now. Heracross, Ekans, Vulpix, Feebas, Swablu, and Horsea were among the new Pokémon that I sent to Avalon. Not only did I want to learn about these new Pokémon, but I wanted to raise them and battle with them.

Just as I was about to walk around the next hill, Hari grabbed my arm.

"What?" I asked him.

"There's something big around the other side of the hill," he whispered.

"A Pokémon?" I whispered back.

He nodded.

I slowly stepped forwards until I could peer out from around the hill. There was a thicket of bushes there. Some of them looked as though they'd been crushed by soemthing. A few wild Pokémon were gathered at a safe distance, watching the shrubs.

But I couldn't see any Pokémon through the bushes. All I could see was what looked like several yellow and red berries hidden amongst the leaves.

Then suddenly the yellow and red colors moved slightly. My jaw dropped as I realized what I was actually seeing. There was a huge green Pokémon lying in the bushes. The green leaves disguised him partially. The Pokémon was covered in red and yellow markings, which was why I thought I'd seen berries between the leaves.

There was only one Pokémon it could be.

Rayquaza.

"No way," I whispered. "We just met Jirachi and Deoxys a couple months ago, and now Rayquaza? What on earth is he doing down here?"

Hari shook his head, at a loss for words.

I hesitated, and then stepped out into the open. I walked very slowly to the bushes that Rayquaza had turned into a bed. I glanced back to see Hari still where I'd left him. He was watching me, wide-eyed.

Finally I peered through the branches at Rayquaza's thick green coils. I edged around, looking for his head. Finally I spotted it.

_Rayquaza? _I asked.

Rayquaza slowly lifted his head and blinked around blearily. He didn't notice my hiding behind the bush.

_Who are you? _He asked weakly.

_My name's Cara._ _I was wondering why you're down here. I thought you never left the atmosphere. _

Rayquaza turned his head and locked his gaze directly on me. I hesitated, and then stood up where he could see me. "Are you feeing sick?" I asked.

Rayquaza eyed me for a moment. _I was flying overhead when I sensed something strange coming from here. It was affecting the Pokémon. I came down to look, but it got me too. I've been feeling rather sick since then. _

Hari suddenly appeared beside me with Gro at his heels. He stared at Rayquaza with fascination.

"The Pokémon I've spoken to around here have become different types," I said. "The researchers accidentally let out a compound which changed the Pokémon. Do you think that's what happened to you?"

_I believe so, _Rayquaza sighed, lowering his head again.

"But the other Pokémon I've talked to have recovered already. They said they only felt queasy for a few days, or a week.

_I think I got a larger dose of it, _Rayquaza replied. _And I'm adjusting to a larger change. I seem to have gained Electric, Water, Fire, and Steel types. _

"Four of them?" I repeated, bewildered.

_It would seem so. _

I stepped through the bushed towards Rayquaza, pulling out Pokémon medicine as I did so. Hari followed.

"Here," I said. "Open your mouth. This might make you feel better."

Rayquaza groaned and finally opened his mouth. I sprinkled the medicine onto his tongue and he swallowed.

"It might take a little while before it takes effect," I explained.

I suddenly realized that Hari had come up beside Rayquaza's head. He started rubbing behind Rayquaza's horn.

Rayquaza closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly. He actually seemed to be enjoying it.

"You don't get to meet many people, huh?" Hari asked. "Cause you stay way high in the sky all the time."

Rayquaza nodded slightly.

I laughed. I guess Rayquaza never got to appreciate a good back rub.

I walked to Rayquaza'a other side and started scratching him too.

We did that for several minutes, giving Rayquaza a massage. Finally Rayquaza lifted his head again.

_Thank you very much. I do feel better now. And I think the medicine's working. _

He began to float up off the ground. He hovered there experimentally for a moment, and then nodded. _I'd better be leaving. I need to find food and return to the ozone later. As long as the Pokémon around here are feeling better, I don't think there's any reason for me to stick around. _

"Bye!" Hari called as I waved. "I hope you feel better!"

Rayquaza floated a little higher and then bowed his head to us. He turned and rose up into the sky and out of sight.

A couple minutes later, Ben rang on the Pokégear. We headed back to meet him at the lab.

"Were you in the hills this whole time?" He asked. "I thought you were gonna meet me here."

"Uh… yeah. It's a long story," I replied, scratching my head.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Really? _Interesting_. Anyway, those guys weren't like Team Rocket or anything. They weren't trying to do any harm. And I don't think we need to worry about them finding Mew. They're not going to be using this method anymore."

I nodded, relieved that Mew didn't have to worry about anyone else trying to catch her.

Ben continued. "They're calling the Pokémon with different types delta species Pokémon. They've been keeping tabs on all the delta Pokémon around here, and they gave me some of their data to include in my program."

"You sure go all out to get every possible variable for that program, huh?" I asked, smiling and shaking my head.

Ben grinned and nodded. "Also, when they found out I had Pokémon, they gave me this." He held out a Pokéball. "It's a Beldum. An electric type Beldum."

"That's pretty cool," I agreed. "There's some fascinating Pokémon in the hills around here too."

"Like what?" Ben asked.

Hari and I glanced at each other and replied in unison.

"Rayquaza."


	7. Oasis in the Desert

I didn't feel very satisfied with my last chapter. If you agree, forgive me. I guess I was in a creative ditch, and I wasn't quite sure how to pull the Delta thing off. I think this will be better though.

I love these games. I wasn't sure how I'd fit them in my story, but I decide to just go for it and do my best. I wanted to include the 2 main characters, but that would have gotten too complex. So I'm tweaking things for my purposes. If you think I should, tell me and I'll see if I can figure something out.

Polaris-Ponyta, Patch-Charizard(clone), Eon-Espeon, Uber-Umbreon, Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta)

Oasis in the Desert

The desert is hot! Why now, of all times, did I not have any water Pokémon with me?

And I was sitting on Charizard's hot back, to boot. The wind from his wings only served as a minor fan.

I absently patted the darker spots on Patch's back. After much thought and debate, I'd agreed to bring Patch, the clone Charizard, with me to the desert region of Orre. There was no Team Rocket to worry about way out in Orre. And with an isolated place like Orre, a flying Pokémon would be very helpful in getting form place to place.

Although the heat bugged me, it was outright murder for Hari. He was sprawled on his stomach across Patch's shoulders, his mouth open and his tongue hanging out. He'd grown up in a cool, shady forest, and he didn't seem to be taking the dry heat well.

Ben wasn't with us this time. He was engrossed in another of his projects. Traveling through Hoenn had put him way behind, and he couldn't come to Orre. The least I could do was bring Hari with me. That was one less distraction for Ben.

"How ya doin?" I asked.

"Muuuuuuuuhh," Hari said.

I wasn't sure if that was bad or good.

Gro sat between Hari and I. He looked less haughty than usual. The heat seemed to be getting to him too. His leaves were drooping along with his eyelids.

I scratched Gro's back, but he hardly reacted.

Patch was the only one at home in the heat.

"Look," I said, pointing to the endless expanse of sand beneath us. "There's a shop, or something. Let's see if we can cool down in there. Can you land, Patch?"

"Chaaa," Patch replied. He angled his wings and began his descent.

He kicked up a cloud of dry sand as he landed in front of the lonely gas stop. It was actually what looked like a train engine that had been converted into a sort of café.

I pulled Hari off of Patch's back and returned the clone Charizard. Hari stood there, looking rather wilty. I tucked Gro under one arm and pulled Hari up the ramp into the café called the Outskirt Stand.

It was not very cool inside. A fan was whirring somewhere, but it was only pumping hot air into the small room.

There was a bar right across from the door. To the right there were two tables with dusty windows looking out at the dusty landscape. A couple people were seated there, sipping drinks. A TV was mumbling in the background.

The man behind the counter raised an eyebrow at us as we entered.

"Does that kid have sun stroke?" He asked.

"Oh, no, he just has a low heat tolerance," I responded. I pulled Hari onto one of the stools and he flopped face-first over the counter. I lay Gro down beside him.

"Are you sure he's okay?" The bar man asked.

"Yeah. He's just… strange. Do you have water?"

"Yeah," he muttered. He walked over to the tap and filled a couple cups. Then he brought them back to us.

I took one of them and dumped it on Hari's head.

He sat up and blinked around blearily. I handed him the other glass of water.

"Do you have milkshakes or anything?" I asked the guy as Hari gulped down the water.

"Milkshakes?" he repeated as though he'd never heard such a request.

"Never mind," I sighed, pouring some water on Gro to revive him. "What about ice? And some more water?"

The guy grumbled and refilled the glasses with water and ice. I caught a few words of what the reporter on the TV was saying.

"… the mysterious building that exploded in Eclo Canyon. It was Team Snagem's hideout. Team Snagem is a gang of Pokémon abductors who have already been marked for arrest."

"Team Snagem," I muttered. "Pokémon abductors. Sounds like Team Rocket."

"Who?" Asked the bartender.

I shrugged. "A band of criminals back in Kanto and Johto."

"Never heard of them," he said gruffly. "But you'd better watch out for Team Snagem." He lowered his voice. "They say they got a machine that lets them catch other people's Pokémon right out from under your nose. You're a trainer, so watch out."

I nodded. "Thanks. I'll keep my eyes open."

I sipped my water for a few minutes. Hari and Gro seemed to recover slightly.

"Where's the nearest town?" I asked.

"That would be Phenac," the bartender replied. "It's west of here. You flew in, right? It shouldn't take you long then."

"Great." I left a tip at the bar and ushered Hari and Gro outside. I let Patch out and beckoned Hari to climb on. Hari looked pitifully at me. He didn't want to go back out in the heat.

"There will be plenty of shade in Phenac," I promised him.

Hari dragged himself back onto Patch's hot back and held Gro in his lap.

Patch gave a small chuckle at Hari's behavior. He took to the air once I was in place. He skimmed over the blazing desert sand and craggy rocks. Finally, Phenac came into view. As we got closer, we saw that its walls enclosed a series of glistening blue fountains and channels.

"Look, Hari," I said, shaking his shoulder and pointing to the water.

Hari raised his head and blinked at the scene before him.

Patch soared over the city walls, ready to land in front of the center fountain. Except Hari suddenly let himself slide sideways off of Patch's back. He landed with a splash in the fountain.

Someone below screamed as they saw a kid fall out of the sky and into the fountain.

"It's okay!" I shouted as Patch landed. "He's fine!"

The woman who had screamed leaned over the fountain and saw Hari floating on his back in the water, looking blissful.

"Sorry to scare you," I said to her. "He's somewhat reckless."

Gro bounded into the water and floated next to Hari, holding onto his arm for support.

"You should take better care of your brother," the woman scolded. "He could be seriously hurt, behaving like that!"

I blinked at her. She obviously had no idea how Hari worked.

The woman finally walked away, glancing back at us.

I sighed and sat down at the edge of the fountain. I waited for Hari to get out, though I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed in there all day.

I looked up as a car drove in through the front gate of Phenac. Two men climbed off and stared walking towards us.

"Nah, they give the stolen Pokémon to higher ranking people. I've already tried to get one," said the guy in a blue hat.

I looked up and fixed my eyes on them. Were they involved with that Team Snagem I'd heard about?

"At least you have one of them," muttered the guy with yellow hair. I…" he broke off as he saw me staring at him.

"Oh, drat! Did that punk hear all that?" he exclaimed. He stepped up to me, and I quickly got to my feet. "Since you overheard us, we don't have any choice. Blame it on your own bad luck!"

He pulled out a Pokéball, and I quickly reached for my own. I sent out Eon and Uber, my Espeon and Umbreon.

The guy called Folly sent out a pair of Whismur. This wouldn't take too long. Eon and Uber were at a much higher level than them.

Eon and Uber darted back and forth around the Whismur. Eon's Psychic was strong enough to knock one of them out with one hit. Uber used Faint Attack and Bite to take care of the other one. The battle was over in less than a minute.

"Gaah! You're tough!" Folly exclaimed. "Don't get all happy just on account of winning this once! The next time we meet, I'll trash you, your Pokémon, and all!"

The two of them dashed away, leaving me staring after them, dumbfounded.

I heard the sound of wet feet on the ground and looked over to see Hari beside me, his clothes and hair dripping onto the ground. He looked up at me.

"Come on," I sighed. "Let's check out the Phenac Colosseum."

I returned Eon and Uber and we headed towards the stadium.

We passed by a building with a sign that read "mayor's house." Just as we were walking past it, a man stepped out. Judging from the way he was dressed, he was _not_ the mayor. He had a strange purple outfit and long silvery hair. He paused as he came face-to-face with us.

I automatically took a step backwards. There was something flat-out creepy about the guy. I narrowed my eyes.

"Hm? I'd guess you're a traveling trainer," he noted. "I like what I see in your expression. I have a feeling I may see you again somewhere." And without another word, he walked off.

I watched him until he was out of sight. What had he been doing in the mayor's house?

I shook my head. "Let's go, Hari."


	8. Corrupted

Corrupted

Hari and I peered through the doors to the Phenac Stadium. The stands were packed with a cheering multitude. On the field two trainers were shouting orders to their Pokémon.

We slipped into the seats nearest the door and watched Spinda and Grumpig take on Castform and Tropius. Gro lounged in the chair next to Hari, chewing on a piece of grass.

I flinched as one of the trainers made a stupid mistake. Castform used Hail, which made Tropius lose its edge and take damage from the falling ice. When Tropius lost its edge, it didn't take long for Spinda and Grumpig to take them down. The trainer's mistake cost them the battle.

I sighed and shook my head. Stupid mistakes can take a big toll. Judging from the trainer's expression, he knew he'd screwed up. Hopefully he'd learn from his mistake.

When the battle was over, we left the colosseum. "Hey," someone shouted as we stepped outside. I recognized the guy as someone who'd stopped to watch me battle Trudly and Folly. "Those weird men from before went into the mayor's house! Do you think the mayor's okay?"

"That doesn't sound good," I muttered. "Come on, Hari."

He and Gro hung dashed at my heels as I ran to the mayor's house. I threw open the door and stepped inside. I blinked for a moment, trying to take in what I was seeing. There seemed to be a giant… Pokéball floating in the air in front of me.

Beyond the giant Pokéball were the two guys from before: Trudly and Folly. To the left were three other guys, each in a different colored suit: red, blue, and green. When they saw us open the door, Folly pointed at us and shouted.

"Master Miror B! It's… It's her! The girl that overheard us!"

That was the moment when I realized that the giant Pokéball was in fact a guy's hair. It was a massive afro with one side died white and the other red. He turned to face us, revealing an outlandish yellow suit and a pair of purple shades.

My mouth was hanging open as I took in his ridiculous appearance. Behind me, Hari's eyes were at their widest. But afro dude didn't seem to notice out shock.

The guy, I assume his name was Miror B since that's what Folly called him, started talking. "Oh, now aren't you boys frightfully pathetic? You mean to tell me you were bested by these darling infants?" He directed his next words at us. "I'm afraid to say that you heard what you shouldn't have. If you don't like pain, like most people, you can avoid the pain by keeping your nose out of places it needn't be." He turned back to Trudly and Folly. "Boys! Oh, boys!"

Trudly and Folly saluted. "Yes! Yes we will!"

"Boys," the afro dude said, "I shall make my return to Pyrite now. Am I making myself clear? I won't accept failure from you again, boys." He laughed turned in a wild dance move. "Let the music spin! Let's get it on!"

He strolled past us out the door, followed by the three guys in suits.

My brain was still trying to process if this guy was for real, so I barely reacted. Hari, at least, managed to kick the blue-suit guy in the shins as they departed. He hissed in pain and hopped in place, but he continued to follow the others out of the house.

"Was one of those guys the mayor?" Hari asked.

"Uh," I said, shaking my head to regain my senses, "Where's the mayor?" I demanded of Trudly and Folly. The two of them were still there, apparently waiting to "take care of us."

Trudly shrugged. "Not here."

"Last time you caught us off guard," Folly said, "but that's not gonna happen again!"

Trudly stepped in front of him. "I'll go this time."

I stepped forwards and sent out Eon and Uber. Trudly sent out Duskull and Spinarak. I didn't need to warn Eon to beware of the type disadvantage.

Eon hit Duskull with Confusion as Uber dodged in to deflect an attack from Spinarak. Spinarak used String Shot, and Uber had to retreat to avoid getting tangled in the sticky threads. Eon dodged a Night Shade from Duskull, but Spinarak aimed his next Strong Shot at him. Eon couldn't dodge in time, and the webs tangled around his feet. He tried to dodge Duskull's Night Shade, but he tripped and fell to the ground. Night Shade struck him full-on.

I quickly returned Eon and sent out Ore, my Lucario.

As Ore engaged Spinarak, Uber was able to knock Duskull out with Faint Attack. Trudly returned Duskull and pulled out another Pokéball. He smirked.

"You won't stand a chance against this one."

I placed my hand to the side of my head. A headache had sprung up out of nowhere. I shut one eye, trying to focus on the battle. Trudly threw out his new Pokéball. It burst open to reveal a Makuhita.

Instantly, I fell to my knees, feeling horribly sick.

"Gah," I gagged. I tried to look up, but my vision was somewhat blurry. I shook my head, trying to regain my senses. Why was this happening?

I noticed that both Hari and Gro were beside me, bristling and pressed back against the wall, terrified.

Something was seriously wrong.

Ore immediately appeared at my side. "Listen," he whispered. "Look up. Look at the Makuhita."

I forced my gaze up to Trudly's Pokémon. Something was weird about him. The look on his face… His expression was cold and expressionless. Like a machine.

While Ore was speaking with me, Uber was keeping both Spinarak and Makuhita occupied, mainly dodging and feinting, but not daring to make any real attacks. He was just stalling for time.

"What do you see?" Ore asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Don't look at Makuhita. Look around him."

I squinted at the air around he Pokémon. I saw the faintest trace of something shadowy floating in the air around him, but I didn't understand what it meant.

"Here," Ore said. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

Immediately I could see Makuhita's aura clearly. It was a disgusting mass of billowing, sickly dark clouds. I glanced over to see the clean blue aura of Uber as he dodged Makuhita's fighting attacks and Spinarak's string. Suddenly the black aura intensified and Makuhita rushed forwards, striking Uber with the strange shadowy attack.

"Go help Uber," I choked to Ore. "KO that Spinarak, but don't defeat the Makuhita until I say so!"

Ore nodded and ran forwards to help Uber. When his hand left my shoulder, the images of the auras faded.

My mind raced frantically. What could I do? There was something seriously wrong with that Makuhita, and I had to find out what. But how?

I could think of only one possibility.

_Mewtwo! _I shouted telepathically.

_What? _He responded quickly, startled by my frantic tone.

_I need you to send me one of your special Pokéalls! Bring it to Ben, NOW! _

_What? Why? _

_PLEASE! _

Ore's Force Palm knocked Spinarak out. Trudly returned him, leaving only Makuhita.

"Please hurry, Mewtwo," I whispered as Ore and Uber dodged another shadow attack. I noticed that the shadowy aura became visible even to my normal sight during this attack, like a rush of solid shadows.

There was a buzzing sound from my pack, signaling the arrival of a Pokéball. I reached inside to find the black Pokéball Mewtwo had sent. I had only used one once before, and not on a Pokémon that belonged to someone.

"Ore!" I called. He dashed over to me and I passed the ball to him. Uber used Faint Attack to knock Makuhita off balance, and Ore leapt in and pressed the Pokéball against Makuhita's forehead. There was a burst of light, bright enough to make Trudly and Folly flinch. In that instant, Makuhita disappeared inside the Pokéball.

My head cleared once Makuhita was out of sight.

The light faded and Trudly looked back to the battle to find that his Makuhita had vanished.

"My Pokémon! Where'd it go?" he shouted at me.

I stared at him icily. "Why are you asking me?"

"Oh man," Folly moaned. "What are we supposed to do? We got flattened again, and your Pokémon is gone. Miror B's going to chew us out!"

"What do we do? What is there to do?" Trudly exclaimed. "Run away!"

The two of them dashed past us, out the door.

I turned to watch them go. The moment they'd left the room, I promptly collapsed to my knees again, shuddering. I pressed my hands over my face.

I heard a small whimper and turned around to see Hari and Gro huddled together against the wall.

"Ah," I said, quickly scooting over to them. "Are you okay?" I asked.

Hari blinked up at me, looking scared. Hari never got scared.

"Come on. It's going to be all right. See?" Ore handed the Pokéball to me and I showed it to Hari. "I caught Makuhita. Now we can try to make him better."

"What _was_ it?" Hari's lip trembled. He looked like he was about to cry. I put an arm around his shoulders.

"I don't know. But I promise you that we're going to find out."

I coaxed him to his feet and lead him outside. He followed, a blank expression on his face. Gro, Uber, and Ore followed, all looking rather shaky.

Just as we made it through the door, we came face-to-face with a very round man with rather poofy gray hair.

"Oh my," he said as he saw us. "Visitors. I'm sorry I was out."

"What?" I said blankly. Then I realized that this guy must be the mayor. "Oh, yeah. We heard that there were weird people in your house, so we came to make sure that you were okay." I shook my head again. I'd become a bit dizzy again, no doubt from trying to walk.

"Oh, strange people in my house? It's lucky I was away!"

Something about his tone freaked me out. It was like he was talking to little kids.

"Thank you for your concern," he continued. "You look rather ill. Are you all right?"

"Uh, yes. We're fine. We'd better be on our way though."

I lead Hari quickly away from the mayor's house and pulled him behind one of the houses, away from prying eyes. I knelt in front of Hari and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Hari, snap out of it."

He blinked up at me, looking rather dazed.

"Are you listening?"

"Yeah," Hari muttered, still sounding rather spacey.

"We're going to find out what happened to that Pokémon, okay? But I need you to stay alert. We'll need your help."

Hari nodded. "Okay."

I wasn't entirely satisfied that he'd snapped out of it, nit I let go of him and turned to Ore. I held out the Pokéball containing Makuhita. "Ore, you know about auras. Can you tell me what's wrong with this guy?"

Ore glanced at the Pokéball. "Something about the Pokémon was corrupted. Something within his soul, which is why it's aura is polluted. But what that is, I can't say."

"Why do you think it made me sick, and Hari a nervous wreck?" I asked.

Ore thought for a moment. "I have a theory. Cara, when you battle, you have a very strong psychic bond to your Pokémon. They read your thoughts during the battle, which is how they know what to do without you shouting out instructions."

"Yeah?"

"So, when the Pokémon with the corrupted spirit appeared, it overloaded your senses. You'd never experienced anything so tainted before. And about Hari, he grew up surrounded by Pokémon. He knew immediately that something was seriously wrong with it. He'd never seen anything like that before, so it scared him."

"And… the auras? I saw them clearly when you touched me." I massaged my temples, trying to understand what Ore was telling me.

"That's because of your psychic powers. It let me lend you my ability to see auras."

"I've never been much good at reading auras, but even I could see a little bit of darkness around Makuhita before you touched me."

"Because its aura was so thick. It wouldn't be hard for you to learn to see auras. I could teach you. Hari might be able to learn too. Most people can if they're open to it."

"You think there's more of them out there?" Hari squeaked.

I glanced away to the distance. "I don't doubt it," I muttered. "I need to call Ben and Mewtwo. They need to know what's happening, and I'm gonna need more of Mewtwo's Pokeeballs.


	9. Twisted Heart

In my game, my Lucario was named Orre, since I named him after the region where these games occur. I liked it because the name sounds like "aura." But it would have been too confusing to call him Orre for this section. So, he's Ore for now.

* * *

><p>Twisted Heart<p>

Ben remained silent. I could see from the image on the handheld screen that he was troubled. Behind him, Mewtwo was very silent, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"You think there are more of these Pokémon out there?" Ben asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Trudly was just a minor guy. If there was only on of those Pokémon, this organization wouldn't have given it to someone unimportant like him."

"Good point," Ben agreed.

"Will you send me a few more of those Pokéballs, Mewtwo?" I asked.

He looked up. It was a moment before he responded. "Very well."

I wondered how much this upset Mewtwo. This was the sort of thing that made him want to destroy all humans back before New Island. Even now when he was more understanding…

"Thanks," I said. "We'll get this sorted out. I promise," I assured him.

Mewtwo gave a small nod before leaving the room.

"Listen," Ben said, leaning towards the screen, "Are you sure you don't want me to come and help?"

"Yeah. I got my Pokémon to look after me. And you're busy."

"Be careful, okay?" he said, concerned.

"I will," I promised. I shut off the video phone and sighed.

"How did this happen to you," I muttered, looking at Makuhita's Pokéball.

I wanted to let Makuhita out to get a better look at him. But I was also afraid to let him out, if it meant a repeat of last time. Especially now that Hari was starting to look better.

I stood up. "Those guys said something about Pyrite Town. Maybe we should go there to see what we can learn."

"Are there fountains at Pyrite?" Hari asked hopefully.

"I don't know what Pyrite is like," I said. "Maybe." I stepped out from behind the building we were sheltering behind.

A scream pierced the air. Startled, I ran forwards and skidded to a halt at the top of the stairs. Below us was the fountain that Hari had jumped in. A woman was there – the same one who had scolded me for letting Hari jump off of Patch's back. Three Pokémon were chasing her: Bayleef, Croconaw, and Quillava. They were trying to attack her.

Pokémon did not attack people.

A shiver ran up my spine and my head began to pound. I could sense immediately that these three Pokémon all had the black auras.

Croconaw used Water Gun at the woman, making her scream again. Then Bayleef tackled her, knocking her to the ground. Quilava charged forwards, and the shadowy aura flared up around him. He was about to use the Shadow Rush move.

I snatched two Pokéballs and threw them out. I sent out Lucario and Tyra (The Delta species Larvitar). Ore dashed in and used Force Palm to knock Quilava over before she could hit the woman.

Tyra used Ember to force Bayleef and Croronaw backwards. The woman scrambled to her feet and backed against the wall, looking terrified. But now the three Pokémon were focused on Ore and Tyra. Then a third Pokémon leapt down beside them. It was Gro.

Hari appeared at my side, looking nervous, but determined. I gave a small smile. Even though these strange Pokémon scared him, he still wanted to help.

Ore dashed forwards, knocking Croronaw to the side. He went for Quilava. Tyra matched up against Bayleef, and Gro went for Croconaw.

I reached into my pack and placed my hand on one of the Pokéballs that Mewtwo had sent over. I closed my fingers around its cool surface, feeling the eye pattern on its front. I waited for an opening. Although Mewtwo's Pokéballs would pretty much hold whatever they grabbed, I wasn't going to throw one unless I was sure it would hit its target.

Ore used Aura Sphere to knock Quillava off her feet. Quilava scrambled upright to attack, but Ore dodged and attacked once more. Quilava skidded backwards, stunned. I seized the opportunity to throw the Pokéball, and Quilava vanished inside.

I turned to Gro, who was using his blades to duel against Croconaw's claws. Croconaw opened her mouth to use Water Gun, but Gro jumped straight up and landed on Croconaw's head, knocking her to the ground. I threw out the next Pokéball, securing Croronaw as well.

But Tyra was having trouble. Bayleef kept knocking her over, and repeated Razor Leafs were taking their toll. Bayleef used Tackle again, sending Tyra flying. She cried out, landing heavily.

"Ore, help her!"

"Lar!" Tyra shouted, pushing herself to her feet and shaking her head. She wanted to finish this fight on her own. I hesitated, and then nodded. She deserved the chance to prove that she could handle these dark Pokémon.

Then Bayleef's aura grew thick and black and he charged forwards with Shadow Rush. Larvitar hadn't regained her balance yet, and the attack hit her, knocking her backwards. I flinched, and waited to see if she could get up. Tyra slowly pushed herself to her feet again, breathing heavily. Bayleef swung his leaf down, and I cringed, waiting for Tyra to be knocked out.

Instead, Tyra grabbed onto Bayleef's leaf and hitched a ride up over Bayleef's head. She used Ember right down onto Bayleef's head.

"Bay! "Bayleef cried. He flicked his leaf, sending Tyra to the ground, but she managed to land on her feet. Bayleef charged once more, and Tyra hit the deck, letting Bayleef run right over her. At exactly the right moment, Tyra unleashed a burst of flame right up at Bayleef's belly.

Bayleef cried out again and crashed to the ground. I threw out a third Pokéball, and caught Bayleef.

I gasped and dropped to my knees. I looked down at the three new Pokéballs before me. Now that I had them, what would I do with them? I scooped them into my pack.

I'd noticed already that when I used Mewtwo's Pokéballs, they didn't connect with the Polkémon transfer system. So even if I had a full team, they stayed with me until I actually tied to send them back to Ben with a transporter. At the moment, that was convenient.

The woman from before walked over to me, looking dazed. "Thank you," she said, relieved. "I never knew that Pokémon would attack people like that."

"They don't," I said rather vaguely.

"But you caught them?" She asked, sounding confused. "Why?"

"I need to figure out what's wrong with them."

She didn't seem to know how to respond to that.

Tyra walked up to me, looking exhausted, but pleased.

"Good job," I said, scratching her head.

"Cara!" Hari shouted. H was pointing at something.

I followed his gaze and saw a guy in a red suit: one of the guys who'd been with Miror B. He was looking out at us from behind a building.

I jumped to my feet and sprinted towards him. Hari and the Pokémon fell in behind me.

There was a startled cry and footsteps as the guy fled. Or plural guys, since it sounded like there was more than one of them.

I wheeled around the corner and saw the three of them heading for one of the city exits.

Hari and Ore appeared and skidded to a halt in front of the exit, blocking it.

The three guys stopped and turned to see me coming up behind them with Tyra and Gro.

"You stole our Pokémon," the guy in blue whined.

"What did you do to these Pokémon?" I shouted. "Why do they attack people?"

The guy in green cowered. Since I'd defeated and stolen all of their dark Pokémon, they had a right to be scared. "We turned them into fighting machines by artificially closing the doors to their hearts."

"You WHAT?" I shouted.

The three of them flinched.

"Knowing that won't do you any good," the guy in blue said.

I stepped towards them. I didn't need to pretend to be menacing. Every inch of my features radiated rage and fury. No doubt my own aura was blazing. The three of them cowered.

"If you battle with them, the doors to their hearts will open up a little at a time," the red guy squeaked.

I glowered at them for several more moments before gesturing to Ore and Hari. They stepped out of the way, letting the three guys flee.

I stood there for a moment, seething with fury.

"AUGH!" I shouted, turning and kicking the wall as hard as I could. I grit my teeth to bite back the pain and dropped my head against the wall. I clenched my fists, trying to hold back the impending storm.

People! STUPID PEOPLE! Why would they DO something like this?

Something touched my arm and I turned, automatically ready to attack. But it was just Hari. He blinked up at me, looking concerned.

I took a deep breath to avoid shouting at him. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Come on," I said, my voice shaking. "Let's get to that Pyrite place. We won't let those people get away with this, and we'll help these Pokémon get better, no matter how much we have to use them in battle."

Hari nodded.

We stepped outside of Phenac. I return Ore and Tyra and sent out Patch. As we soared through the desert air, I explained to the clone Charizard what had happened.

Patch nodded gravely. _I'll help you._ _Those weird Pokémon won't be a match for me, _he growled. _I'll take them out. _

I patted his neck. "Yep. You're tougher than any of them."

"What's that?" Hari asked.

We followed his gaze to see a massive tower rising up out of the desert. Patch headed towards it to investigate.

"There's a stadium at the top," I said, startled.

_It looks like it's under construction, _Patch noted.

"Yeah," I agreed, seeing the debris near the front entrance.

Patch circled once around the tower, and then continued west to Pyrite.

A couple minutes later, the city came into view. As we drew closer, I noticed how run-down the town looked. The streets were dirty and the buildings rather faded. We landed on the outskirts of town and I returned Patch.

I looked down the main street of the town and sighed. It didn't look very inviting. But this is where we might find out about the dark Pokémon.

"Okay. Let's go, guys."


	10. Rogue Town

Man, I really want to play this game again…

Polaris-Ponyta, Patch-Charizard(clone), Eon-Espeon, Uber-Umbreon, Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta)

* * *

><p>Rogue Town<p>

"You! Hey, you!"

I turned to see a guy standing near the entrance to town, leaning against a wall. He had green hair and a pair of goggles resting on his forehead.

"I saw you fly in on that Charizard!" he called. "You have to be pretty good to train a Charizard. Battle with me!"

I sighed. I didn't really have time for this. I needed to find out about the dark Pokémon.

"I'm kind of in a hurry," I said, turning away.

"What, are you afraid to battle my Shadow Pokémon?"

I froze and slowly turned back around.

"What?"

"You mean you never heard of Shadow Pokémon? They're all the rage around Pyrite town. They give one to whoever wins in the Pyrite Colosseum."

"Sounds interesting," I said, keeping my voice a monotone so as not to give away my immediate interest. "I'll battle you. But I don't have a lot of time. How about just a two-on-two? And use your fancy Shadow Pokémon."

"Great! Then you use your fancy Charizard! My name's Cail, by the way."

"I'm Cara," I said, holding up a Pokéball and smirking. He didn't know what he was asking for when he requested a battle against Patch. "Let's get this over with fast!"

I sent out Patch, and then hesitated. I knew now that Makuhita and the three Johto starters were called Shadow Pokémon. And I knew that if I battled with them, they'd recover little by little. But… would battling really be enough? Well, I had to try something. I sent out Quilava.

Cail sent out two of his Pokémon. One was a Ralts. The other was a Furret. I could tell by the clenching feeling in my stomach that Furret was a Shadow Pokémon.

Hari tugged nervously at my arm, but I ignored him.

_Patch, take care of that Ralts, okay?_ I called telepathically.

Patch nodded and took to the air, circling low overhead.

_Quilava, _I said, _I need you to battle the Furret. Keep it occupied. _

But Quilava didn't move. She just stood there. My heart sank.

_Quilava, can you hear me? _

No response.

I swallowed, then reached out very slowly with my telepathy. As I touched Quilava, nausea swept over me. I fought to stay on my feet, and I reached a little farther. But I felt no response from Quilava. It was like hitting a wall – a thick, staticy wall.

Okay. Now what?

Patch hit Ralts with a final flame attack, and Ralts collapsed, defeated. Cail returned his Pokémon.

_Patch, can you wait to the side? I can't figure out what to do with Quilava. _

_I don't think she can hear your telepathy, _Patch said. _With her heart closed, there's no spirit to understand your words. You'll have to speak allowed, to the body. _

"Quilava!" I called aloud. "Use Ember!"

Quilava glanced back at me and cocked her head.

Furret charged forwards and tackled Quilava. Quilava tumbled backwards.

"Just attack it!" I shouted at Quilava.

Quilava got to her feet and the shadowy aura flared up around her. She charged forwards, using Shadow Rush. Furret charged at the same time with his own Shadow Rush and the two collided.

"Hey, you have a Shadow Pokémon too?" Cail asked. "I thought you didn't know what they were."

"I don't," I said. "They didn't tell me what it was when I got it. Why won't it use any attacks besides the shadow thing?"

Cail stared at me. "Why should I help my opponent?"

"Fine! If I win, you tell me everything I want to know!" I snarled. "Quilava, knock Furret out of the way and build up momentum for Shadow Rush!"

Quilava tried to push Furret to the side, but Furret resisted and used Strength, throwing Quilava to the ground. Furret followed up with Shadow Rush, knocking Quilava out.

I hissed in annoyance and returned Quilava.

"Go, Patch!" I shouted.

Patch roared and flew forwards. I reached into my bag and wrapped my fingers around one of Mewtwo's Pokéballs. I hesitated. Before, I'd stolen Pokémon from people who were involved in the creation of Shadow Pokémon. But this guy was just someone who had ended up with a one without knowing exactly what was going on. It felt wrong to steal his Pokémon… But I had to. He hadn't had it that long anyway, and I needed to find a way to help that Furret!

Patch circled overhead and I reached up, passing the Pokéball into his clawed hand.

Patch swooped down on Furret, using Flamethrower to kick up a cloud of dust and smoke. When it cleared, Furret was gone, and Patch was standing there, holding the Pokéball in his hand.

"Where'd my Furret go?" Cail demanded, looking around.

Patch walked over to me and silently passed me the Pokéball with Furret safely inside.

"What, you didn't see?" I asked, haughtily. "Patch sent him flying. I'm sure you'll be able to find him eventually, although Shadow Pokémon aren't known for their loyalty. They're just machines, really. So," I said, "tell me why your Furret would use attacks beside Shadow Rush, but my Quilava wouldn't."

Cail narrowed his eyes at me. "Well, you just got your Quilava?"

"Yeah."

"First time you battled with it?"

I nodded.

"Well, when a Shadow Pokémon goes to a new trainer, they only know Shadow Rush. The more they battle with a trainer, the more they remember their old attacks. I've heard it makes them less special though, cause some of the Shadow starts to go away."

"You said that they were giving these away at the colosseum," I said. "Who's in charge of the colosseum?"

"That would be Duking, I guess. His house is right down the road. Oh, and one other thing. If your Pokémon enters Hyper Mode, you're supposed to call them out of it, or they might stop listening to you."

"Oh," I said, although I had no idea what "Hyper Mode" meant. I returned Patch. "Thanks. Come on, Hari."

We headed down the road to the house Cail had indicated. I knocked on the door.

"Come in," said a rather dull voice.

I opened the door and saw a very large, muscular man stead behind a desk. He had brown hair and a moustache. His eyes were fixed on the paperwork in front of him.

"Hi," he said, glancing up for a moment before looking back down again. "I'm Duking. If you have a question about the colosseum, it would be better if it could wait. I'm very busy now."

I was about to ask him about the Shadow Pokémon when his door opened and a man walked in.

I pulled Hari to the side as the man stormed and slammed his hands onto Duking's desk. Duking looked up, startled.

"How much more can you take of Miror B and his stooges!" the man shouted.

My interest was immediately piqued.

"Silva," Duking started, but the man called Silva cut him off.

"They're using you and the colosseum! What's the matter with you?"

Duking looked away.

"Tch. So you just clam up. I've lost faith in you." Silva turned and left.

Duking looked extremely troubled.

"Are you letting them give away Shadow Pokémon at the colosseum?" I blurted.

Duking looked up at me, startled. "Who are you again?" He asked.

"Why aren't you stopping them?" I demanded, ignoring his question.

Duking sighed. "I can't," he muttered.

"You can't," I scoffed. "Fine. I'll stop it myself."

I stomped out of the room with Hari following.

"Is he one of the people who makes Shadow Pokémon?" Hari asked, glancing back at Duking's house.

"I don't think so. He just isn't doing anything to stop them."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Wait!"

I turned to see Duking coming towards us.

"Wait," he repeated.

"What?" I demanded.

"It's not that I want them to spread the Shadow Pokémon around," he explained. "But I can't do anything about it. See, they kidnapped my Plusle."

My eyes widened. So, the enemies had taken a hostage, had they?

"Are you a trainer?" Duking asked.

I nodded.

"Then would you try to get Plusle back for me?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed.

"We won't let anyone hurt your Plusle!" Hari exclaimed, looking determined.

"If you run into Silva, tell him I'm sorry," Duking said.

I nodded.

"Thanks," Duking said. "I'll start preparing as well. I know my kids have been trying to help. Oh, and one more thing. Up ahead is Duel Square. Most of the trainers that hang around there have Shadow Pokémon."

"Okay. Thanks."

Duking watched Hari and I walk away before turning back to his house.

Up ahead I saw the place known as Duel Square. Several tough-looking trainers were milling about, waiting to battle. But that would have to wait.

I ducked behind one of the buildings and let all of my team out. Ponyta, Lucario, Espeon, Umbreon, Larvitar and Charizard all faced me.

"Hey, guys," I said. "I've told you all what's going on. And I'm gonna need to change my team a lot to make room for the Shadow Pokémon I catch. But I need to keep some of you with me since you're strong and reliable. I don't want a team full of these unpredictable Shadow Pokémon. I definitely need Patch to fly us from one place to another. And Ore should probably stay because I need you to teach Hari and I how to see auras. If one more of you wants to stay, that would probably be fine."

_Let me stay! _Tyra exclaimed. _At least for a while! _

"I think that's fine."

_I'll return to Avalon if you think it's important, _Polaris said. _I know Patch and Ore are strong enough to keep you safe, and Tyra and Gro are quite strong too. _

Eon and Uber nodded in agreement. _That's fine with us. _

"Okay. Thanks, guys. I'll tell Ben to keep you updated on what's going on. If I need help, I'll ask him to send you back to me."

I returned my team and sent Polaris Eon, and Uber back to Avalon. I looked at the five black Pokéballs in my pack. Would I really be able to find a way to help these Pokémon?

"Okay, Hari," I said, lifting one of the Pokéballs in my hand and facing Duel Square. "We've got a lot of work to do."


	11. Fire Aura

I can't help it. I've always liked dramatic entrances. Assuming they're done well, of course.

Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta)

* * *

><p>Fire Aura<p>

After six battles in a row, my Pokémon and I were thoroughly exhausted. My Shadow Pokémon had gotten a workout, but Ore, and Patch had done most of it. Tyra had done her best, but she couldn't handle as much as Ore or Patch. She helped a lot, but hadn't lasted through all of the battles.

Although it had been exhausting, we had six new Shadow Pokémon to show for it. That was something, at least. And we'd also learned that the people who were making Shadow Pokémon called themselves Cipher. So now the enemy had a name.

I took my team over to the Colosseum to get them healed. I sighed as I waited. "You know," I said to Hari, "I originally came here to try the Colosseums. But me and my Pokémon are getting all worn out just going after these Shadow Pokémon.

"You could still take the challenges," Hari said. "Cause the Shadow Pokémon need to battle if they're going to get better, right?"

I nodded dully. "Anyway, the next thing we have to think of is getting into the building where people are giving away Shadow Pokémon."

"Here you go," the lady behind the desk said, handing my Pokémon back to me. Hari and I left the Colosseum and headed across the bridge. The fact that there was a ravine in the middle of Pyrite Twon had startled me at first, as had the rather rickety-looking bridge that lead across it to the Colosseum. But neither of these had bothered Hari in the least. "I guess I could take part in the Colosseum, and if I win, they'd let me in to give me a Shadow Pokémon, right? But then my team would be tired from battling, and we'd have to battle whoever's inside there right after." We passed by the building that belonged to Cipher. I glanced up at the roof. "Of course, we could always just-"

"Gate crash!" Hari exclaimed.

I nodded and we ducked behind a building where we wouldn't be overheard. "Patch would have no problem getting us up there. And there wouldn't be much security on the roof. It's almost dark, so we could wait until then. Except... there's a good chance that a lot of the people in there will have Shadow Pokémon. And unless I battle them all, I'll never know who has the Shadow Pokémon."

But how many people would be in there? I didn't want to have to fight all the guards at once.

"I wonder if there's some way to see the aura of the Shadow Pokémon through the Pokéballs." I took out Ore's Pokéball. "I think it's about time we learned how to see auras. We have a little time before it's dark."

* * *

><p>"Well, you are improving," Ore said. "But it will take a lot more practice before you can see an aura through a Pokéball."<p>

I rubbed my eyes after staring very hard at Hari for several minutes. Looking at auras worked best if the target person was in front of a white background. If I looked just off of Hari's shoulder or head, I could see sort of a gleaming bubble around him. And I'd even seen a couple splashes of color through it. Hari had about the same luck as me in his attempts. That in itself was a miracle, considering he never sat still long enough to do anything.

I pulled out one of the Pokéballs containing a Shadow Pokémon.

"Here, hold this, Hari," I said tossing the Pokéball to him. He caught it and held it out. I tried focusing again, and a minute later I saw the faintest hint of purples and blacks billowing out of the Pokéball. But inside a dark building with a bunch of people milling about… I'd never be able to tell which Pokéballs held a Shadow Pokémon.

"I guess you'll have to identify them for us," I sighed to Ore.

Ore nodded. I returned him for the moment and looked up at the sky. The sun had finally receded. Now was the time.

I sent Patch out and Hari and I climbed into place. A moment later, we were safely on the roof. Against the cliff wall was what looked like a cave. But for the moment I ignored that. I was more interested in the door leading inside the building.

I returned Patch. Hari, Gro and I crept towards the door and peered in through the grimy window to see three people. One of them was on the ground. I recognized him as Silva, the guy who'd shouted at Duking. He was leaning against the wall with his hands tied behind him.

I gestured to Hari. He nodded, and I quickly released Ore and the Shadow Noctowl and threw the door open.

Ore darted in and used his spikes to cut Silva's ropes. The two women in the room turned, alarmed, and quickly released their Pokémon: Mantine, Aipom, Remoraid, and Luvdisc.

"Mantine and Remoraid," Ore whispered.

I nodded. Mantine and Remoraid were Shadow Pokémon.

Gro, Ore, and Noctowl rushed forwards to attack their foes. We were outnumbered for the moment, but I wasn't worried.

With a couple quick strikes, Ore knocked Aipom out of the battle. Gro took on Luvdisc. Ore and Noctowl moved on to the two Shadow Pokémon. Noctowl swooped down on Remoraid, knocking him over. Remoraid fired several blasts of water, most of which hit Noctowl. Noctowl retreated and readied a Shadow Rush.

Mantine used her wings to knock Ore back. The blow was powerful and stunned Lucario. At that moment, both Mantine and Remoraid turned to attack Noctowl. Their combined water attacks stopped his Shadow Rush in its tracks. He tumbled backwards and hovered there for a moment. Suddenly his aura flared up red and black, flickering like flames. My stomach clenched and I felt nausea sweep over me again. What was this?

Noctowl's eyes flickered menacingly and he shot forwards with Shadow Rush. The powerful attack knocked Remoraid and Mantine backwards. Noctowl swooped around, beating at the two Cipher women with his wings. He swooped at me, and I raised my arm to protect my head. I felt claws rake my arm. Noctowl rushed back at the foe Pokémon, hitting Gro on the way.

What was going on? _Hyper Mode, _I thought automatically. Cail had mentioned something about that, but I hadn't known what he was talking about.

Noctowl was almost on Mantine and Remoraid.

"Noctowl!" I shouted.

The blazing aura subsided and the fire left Noctowl's eyes. He altered direction, swerving away from his opponents.

Ore struck several quick blows, stunning the two Shadow Pokémon. And a few moments later, I had them caught safely in the black Pokéballs.

Then Gro knocked out Luvdisc.

One of the woman shoved past us and out the door.

"Guards!" She shouted. Hari jumped on her, trying to stop her from shouting anymore, but the damage had been done. A man came running out of the cave, and another came up the stairs.

Pineco, Linoone, Yanma, and Qwilfish appeared. The latter two were Shadow Pokémon as well. And I was uncomfortably aware of the fact that I was running out of Mewtwo's Pokéballs.

Noctowl, Ore, and Gro rushed forwards, but a Pin Missile from Qwilfish was all it too to knock Noctowl out. I replaced him with Croronaw.

Yanma and Linoone ganged up on Ore, and although he tried to fight them off, he was tired from the earlier battle. A dual attack of Sonicboom and Fury Swipes finally finished him.

I sent Patch out to take his place. He swooped down to attack.

Then Pineco began to glow.

"Look Out!" I shouted.

Too late. The full force of Pineco's Self Destruct hit Gro, Patch, and Croconaw, blasting all of them backwards. Gro and Croconaw didn't stand a chance. Patch landed in a heap and struggled to his feet. I returned Croconaw and reached for another Pokémon.

I heard a rustling sound overhead. Two small black objects dropped from the sky.

The foe Pokémon glanced up, and Patch took advantage of the distraction to douse the enemy in flames.

The two black objects struck Yanma and Qwilfish, and the two Shadow Pokémon disappeared.

Pokéballs? But…

Something else descended from the night sky, landing beside me. Someone in a dark cloak with a brad-brimmed hat.

I grinned broadly. "Your timing is excellent," I said to Mewtwo.

He gave a small nod. A moment later, Patch finished off Linoone.

The guards and the two women from before dashed towards the cave, but with a wave of his hand, Mewtwo sealed the entrance with a psychic barrier. The first man crashed into it and crumpled to the ground in a daze.

"I don't think it's wise of you to go for more help," I said icily. "Your superiors won't think very well of you for losing to the likes of us."

The one man swayed to his feet, and they turned and ran down the stairs.

"Thank you." All of us turned to see Silva standing in the door. In the heat of battle, I'd completely forgotten about him. He looked rather wobbly on his feet. He was probably hurt.

Hari and I went over to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine," he muttered. "Just got a bit beat up."

"It probably wasn't the best idea to come here by yourself," I told him. Which probably sounded incredibly stupid coming from a teenage girl accompanied by a little boy.

"I had to do something," Silva said. "They took Duking's Pokémon hostage, so he can't do anything."

"I know. That's one of the reasons we came here."

"Well, you'll find Plusle with Miror B, I think," Silva said. "They're all in the cave there."

"Okay, thanks. You should take it easy. Go find Duking, maybe. Tell him what's going on. We'll all go on ahead."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" He asked.

I nodded confidently. "Yep. I was the Pokémon League Champion in Kanto. And now that my friend is here, it's Miror B who ought to be afraid." I grinned back at Mewtwo, who was back in the shadows, avoiding Silva. "You be careful though. There might still be some guys around downstairs."

Silva nodded and limped off to the elevator inside the room.

I turned to Mewtwo and grinned. "Thanks for coming, Mewtwo."

He gave a small nod. "I thought it was best to come myself considering the situation. I thought… that you might need more help from me than just my Pokéballs. And I brought this as well."

He handed me one of his black Pokéballs. For a moment, I didn't understand.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "You brought Phantom!" Phantom was the Darkrai that I'd sort of caught to help him escape from Team Rocket. He was the only other Pokémon I'd ever caught using one of Mewtwo's special Pokéballs.

He nodded. "He said he'd come and help too. He thought his abilities would come in handy."

"Thanks, guys. I think by the end, we'll need both of you. I don't know what we'll find in the cave here, but something tells me that this isn't going to be the end of it."


	12. Salsa

Hey all. Just to let you know, I'll be gone for a little over a week. I won't be able to get a chapter up next weekend, but I should be able to manage one the week after.

Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta)

* * *

><p>Salsa<p>

I dashed back inside the building to make use of the healing machine. I didn't want to go any farther while half of my team was unconscious. I dashed back to meet Hari and Mewtwo. Our small group stared the cave that lead into the cliff. Then I stepped forwards into the darkness. Mewtwo, Hari, and Gro followed.

Grimy electric lights were strung up along the walls of the cave. Rusting, abandoned equipment was strewn about the border of the cavern. This must have been one of the mines Pyrite used to tap into.

A staircase had been carved into the entrance room, leading down to a lower level.

"Come on," I said, walking over and descending the stone stairs. As we arrived in the lower room, there was a shout. A guard was posted there, and he'd seen our feet appear. I jumped down the last several stairs to see a small band of Miror B's thugs rushing in to surround us.

I quickly sent out Ore, and paused as I wondered who else to send out.

"There are two Shadow Pokémon," Ore said, reading the auras through the Pokébals.

"Okay," I replied quietly. But before I could send out my second Pokémon, a blue light suddenly filled the room, and then disappeared. The group of men and women in front of us slumped to the ground and started snoring.

Wait… what?

I glanced over to see Mewtwo lower his arm. Ahh. He had put them to sleep.

"Wow. Things are really easy when you're in our group," I said, impressed.

He gave an amused half-smile. Lucario took the two Pokéballs containing Shadow Pokémon and handed them to me.

"Thanks guys." We continued down the next staircase until…

"Blah," I gasped. We had arrived in the sewer system beneath Pyrite. "Lovely."

"I'd say that this person doesn't want to be found," Mewtwo noted.

I gave a small snort. "Which is ironic considering he kinda sticks out in a crowd."

Mewtwo glanced at me.

"Trust me. You'll understand soon enough," I assured him.

"Are we looking for Pokéball head?" Hari asked.

"I think so."

"What?" Mewtwo asked, bewildered.

"Uh… it's hard to explain," I sighed, walking quickly along the path next to the sewer. It wasn't long before we rose up out of the smelly area and into the mine again.

But the escape from the stench brought another problem. We ran into another guard. He jumped to attention when he saw us and sent out Lotad and Swablu. I sent out the Shadow Yanma and Tyra to meet them.

Honestly, using the Shadow Pokémon in battle scared me. Especially after I'd gotten a taste of that Hyper Mode. It may make the Shadow Pokémon much stronger, but it also makes them totally berserk… Not to mention I can't use my telepathy with them. It throws off my battle tempo.

And another thing. I'd been purposefully using the Shadow Pokémon in battle, since I believed that it would purify them. And while I did feel some of the shadow fade from them over time, they remained cloaked in billowing dark clouds. Why weren't they healing? What crucial step was I missing?

I turned my attention back to the battle and had Yanma attack Lotad. Tyra went after the Shadow Swablu. Mewtwo silently watched the battle, waiting for an opening to use one of his Pokéballs. Against one trainer, there wasn't any need for him to use his powers. My Pokémon could handle this one.

I smiled as I watched Tyra. She was indeed getting stronger. Her determined battling was rapidly raising her level. In fact, I was surprised that she hadn't evolved. Perhaps, like Polaris, she wasn't ready to change her form yet.

Tyra succeeded in pinning Swablu to the ground, and a moment later, Mewtwo caught it. Tyra dashed over to help Yanma finish Lotad off. The moment the battle saw over, Mewtwo flicked his wrist and cast the foe trainer into a deep sleep.

We continued to the next room, and paused. Music was playing somewhere. Some sort of salsa music. It was the last thing I expected to hear down here in the mines and sewers.

We followed the sound to a pair of doors. I placed my hands against them and pushed.

I stared with raised eyebrows at the room in front of me. There was Miror B, dancing some weird disco dance with four Ludicolo around him, shuffling their feet and swaying to the music.

Miror B looked up as we entered.

"Oh-ho, it's you is it?" He asked, sounding amused. "And it looks like you picked up a new friend." He glanced at the cloaked figure beside me. As was the purpose of Mewtwo's hat and cloak, it made him appear nothing more than a human in a strange outfit.

Miror B continued speaking. "I didn't know you'd cause so much trouble when I saw you back in Phenac City, or I would have put an end to you myself. Tell me, are you the reason that several of our Shadow Pokémon seem to have gone missing? How is it that a darling little girl like you has the power to steal other trainer's Pokémon?"

I narrowed my eyes and pulled out a Pokéball, clicking the button to make it expand. "Why don't you find out?" I taunted. "I'm sure someone like you would have no problem beating a little girl like me, even if I do know how to steal people's Pokémon. But I'd rather steal Pokémon any day than tear their hearts out."

"Oh-ho, how very dramatic," Miror B said. "Very well. It will be a pleasure to crush a little troublemaker such as you."

I sent out Ore and Swablu, Two of Miror B's Ludicolo waltzed forwards to take the field. Immediately, one of them used Rain Dance. Clouds billowed out of the ceiling and rain began to splash to the cave floor. I hissed in annoyance. Not only would this benefit Miror B's team, but it would make a lot of trouble for me. Neither Tyra nor Patch would do well in the wet, and it was only a matter of moments before Swablu's wings were sodden and she could barely fly.

Ore lifted the little Shadow Pokémon and dropped her directly on top of one of Ludicolo's lily pad heads, where she could peck away to her hearts content. Ludcolo occupied itself by trying and failing to shake her off.

Ore fell on the other Ludicolo, using repeated Force Palms and Aura Spheres to pound him into submission.

Another Ludicolo came out to replace the fallen comrade. It used Razor Leaf to knock Swablu back to the ground. Both of the Ludicolo converged on Ore using Razor Leaf and Water Gun. I took that opportunity to order Swablu to use Sing.

Only one Ludicolo fell under the influence of Swablu's Sing, but it dropped off to sleep and Miror B had to replace her with his fourth and (hopefully) final Ludicolo.

Ore knocked the other Ludicolo away from him, but she used Leech Seed. The vines wrapped around Ore's Arms, sapping his strength. He managed to cut most of them away with his spikes, but the rest continued to sap his energy. The other Ludicolo used Absorb to drain away the last of Swablu's strength.

I returned Swablu and sent out Yanma.

Ore managed to get a few more hits in before Leech Seed drained the last of his strength. I returned him and sent out Patch.

_Mewtwo, _I called telepathically, _Can you keep the rain from falling on Patch? _

Mewtwo gave a small nod, and an invisible umbrella spread over Charizard, shielding him from the water.

Patch's Fire Spin instantly KO'd the remaining two Ludicolo. They didn't stand a chance against the clone Charizard's boosted powers.

And then Miror B sent out a Sudowoodo. A Shadow one.

Mewtwo gave another nod, to show that he was ready to snag him. I just needed to keep Sudowoodo and Miror B occupied until he had a decent opening.

Patch sent out another blast of fire. The heat struck the rain in the air and on the ground, making it evaporate into a hissing steam cloud. The rock-type Sudowoodo cried out and tried to shield himself. Yanma dashed in and struck Sudowoodo with Shadow Rush.

A black orb soared through the air and struck Miror B's Pokémon, successfully snagging it.

"How, how, how dare you!" Miror B screeched as the steam dissipated. "Don't you dare think you'll get away with your latest outrage! One of these days, I will take great pleasure in kicking you about with my elegant dance steps!"

"If you'd spent more time on your Pokémon than on your feet, you might have avoided defeat a little longer," I scoffed.

"I haven't given up on the Shadow Pokémon plan!" Miror B shouted. He dashed past us and out the door.

"Should I stop him?" Mewtwo asked.

"He's not worth it," I said. "We need to find Duking's Plusle."

"I already found him."

Mewtwo and I turned to see Hari cuddling a happy Plusle.

"Eh," I said stupidly.

"I heard him crying from behind that door during the battle," Hari explained, pointing to a small room beside this one.

"Well, that's great then. Come on. Let's get out of here. This place smells weird."

We turned and headed back up, out of the cave. As we neared the mine's exit, we heard footsteps.

"Aren't they done yet," I moaned. It was late and I wanted to heal my Pokémon and go to sleep.

But it wasn't more Cipher goons. It was Duking and Silva. They'd finally arrived.

"Pulaa!" Plusle cried happily, jumping out of Hari's arms to greet Duking.

"You found Plusle!" Duking exclaimed, kneeling in front of his Pokémon to rub his ears.

"And you made it out safe!" Silva added.

"No problem," I said. "He was a pushover compared to some people I've fought."

"Miror B did escape though, Silva sighed."

"At least he's been driven out," Duking replied. "And Plusle didn't get turned into a Shadow Pokémon. That's what counts for now. Come on. Let's quit this moldy cavern."

* * *

><p>So, the hotel at Pyrite was kind of expensive, and not too homey. So to make things easier, Mewtwo flew us out to the desert where we set up camp against a cliff. We were used to camping anyway.<p>

It was very late by the time I set up my sleeping bag. Desert nights were cold, so even Hari needed a blanket. Mewtwo, unbothered by the temperature, sat against the cliff and dozed.

My mind buzzed in circles as I lay in my sleeping bag. We'd chased Miror B out, yes. But we hadn't figured out where the Shadow Pokémon were coming from, or how to purify them. Duking had suggested we try Agate Village, which was north of Pyrite. We'd head there tomorrow.

It took a while for me to drift into sleep.

* * *

><p>Floating<p>

_Who am I? _

Water. I'm in water. There's people around me. Speaking.

_Where am I? Who are they? I must go were they are. _

The tank around me shatters and glass and fluid sprays to the floor.

There are humans. They start speaking. Saying bad things.

Rage boils up.

_Bad. _

_Humans are bad. _

The anger expands, filling me.

_I will not be a slave! _

The rage explodes outwards, a fiery ray of hatred.

People scream.

An ear-splitting crack wakes me from the nightmare.

I jerk violently, tangling myself in my sleeping bag. Hari was scrambling to his feet beside me. A blue light illuminated the camp. It was flickering, like fire.

And then I saw him. Mewtwo was on his feet, a look of fury and desperation on his face. He had shot out a psychic attack at the cliff, shattering part of the rock. He turned and launched another attack, which sent up a mushroom cloud of sand away in the desert.

"Mewtwo!" I shouted. What was he doing? Was he attacking someone?

But no, that wasn't right. The dream I'd had… The same one I'd had before I met Mewtwo. He had been having a nightmare about when he first woke up to find himself surrounded by people who cared nothing for him. Somehow my dreams had linked with his. And I realized that he was still locked in the dream, wildly lashing out to free himself from the nonexistent threat.

He'd never reacted this way to nightmares. What had happened? Did it have anything to do with the situation we were in now? How Pokémon were being robbed of their being and turned into machines? It could have easily triggered the dark memories from his past.

I finally extracted myself from my sleeping bag and scrambled to my feet. Mewtwo's next attack shattered a boulder that was feet away from Hari and I. I pushed Hari to the ground as the stone shards flew past. I felt some of them scrape past my arms.

"Mewtwo!" I shouted. I stepped towards him, but a blast of energy pushed me backwards, where I sprawled to the ground.

"What's happening?" Hari wailed, huddling with Gro behind the remainder of the boulder.

I dug my fingers into the ground and pulled myself forwards. Dirt sprayed over my back as one of Mewtwo's attacks struck nearby.

I managed to drag myself a few feet from Mewtwo. He turned to send out another attack, and I threw myself towards his back, grabbing him around the middle. He whipped around, nearly sending me flying again, but I managed to hang on. I tried to ignore his tail lashing against my head and face. I managed to get one hand up to pin one of Mewtwo's arms to his side. I wasn't even sure that he knew he was being restrained, he was so deep in his own nightmare.

I whipped my other arm up and wrapped it around Mewtwo's chest. I dragged him backwards, trying to knock him off balance.

"_MEWTWO!_" I shouted both aloud and telepathically. "WAKE UP!"

I remained clinging to him, my eyes shut tight, not sure what was going to happen. It took me a moment to realize that I didn't hear the explosions from his attacks anymore.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked up. Mewtwo was standing very still. Since I was behind him, I had to tilt my head to see his face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open, as though he couldn't believe what he'd done. He slowly turned his gaze down to my arms that were locked around his middle.

I managed to unclench my fingers and release Mewtwo. In unison, both of us dropped to our knees. Mewtwo turned slightly so I could see his face.

"Are you okay," I panted.

"Did I hurt anyone?" he blurted.

I shook my head.

His eyes fell on my arms where I'd been cut by the shards of rock. I looked down too to see that some of the scratches were bleeding.

"Oh," I said. "It's not bad. Just a few cuts. Are you okay, Hari?"

He peeked out from behind his shelter and nodded, wide-eyed.

Mewtwo dropped his head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I said.

He shook his head. "I've never…"

"It does happen sometimes," I said. "Especially with soldiers. Sometimes they lash out when they wake up."

"But soldiers don't have the power to blow up an entire mountain," Mewtwo whispered. "If I lose control of my power…"

"I have an idea," I said. I stood and gently tugged Mewtwo to his feet. I gestured for Hari and Gro to come over.

I spread out Hari's blankets and my sleeping bag, making a little nest against the cliff. I released Ore, Patch, and Tyra. Patch stretched out against the cliff and I set Mewtwo down in front of him. I sat beside him, and Hari and the rest of the Pokémon piled around us.

"What's this?" Mewtwo asked, as though he couldn't believe that we would actually move closer to him after what he'd done.

Hari grinned. "We'll keep the nightmares away!"


	13. To Cleanse the Impure

Hey all! Long time no see! Feels like I've been away from my fanfic for ages (Partially because I miscalculated how long I'd be away from the computer, which is why I missed 2 weeks of uploading instead of one. ^-^' )

I've been debating a while about whether or not to add these characters, but I like them, so I'm just gonna go for it. And In case you hadn't noticed, I do tweak a lot of the details of the game. (Sorry about a short chapter this time).

Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta)

* * *

><p>To Cleanse the Impure<p>

Agate was seated on a green, grassy hill with twisted trees twining around the buildings. Waterfalls and streams flowed freely around paths and caves. It marked the end of the desert, and looked green and cool from the air. It was not what I was expecting, but it couldn't have been more welcome.

Patch landed at the top of the hill and Mewtwo touched down beside us.

"It's not hot here!" Hari said happily.

"It feels nice," I agreed, returning Patch. I started to head down the hill. I wanted to ask around and see what we could learn. But I paused, staring longingly at the grass beside one of the clear rivers. After the hot, dry desert, I really wanted to just lie in the grass and relax for a while. I wanted to put a stop to the Shadow Pokémon, but we'd worked hard yesterday. Besides, we didn't have any leads. I hesitated, then flopped down in the grass and let out Patch, Tyra, and Ore.

It's nice just to sit outside, listen to the wind, and watch the water cascade off of a cliff.

That is, until there's a scream for help.

The shout jolted all of us out of our relaxation. I automatically slipped into alarm mode, thinking of Shadow Pokémon. I leapt to my feet and sprinted in the direction of the cry, with the others following.

We dashed down the hill where someone was standing in front of the Pokémon Center. He saw me approaching with a fleet of Pokémon behind me.

"People are attacking the shrine!" he shouted, waving his arms.

A little of the adrenaline left me. A shrine. Not a Shadow Pokémon attack. Still, I'd see what I could do to help.

"Where?" I asked.

He pointed down the slope to a tunnel that lead into the hill. Someone was already making their way inside, but they disappeared before I could get a good look at them.

I charged down the trail and into the tunnel. Tree roots twisted through the cave, dipping into a stream that flowed through it. The tunnel was deserted, but we could hear a commotion from the other side.

We emerged to find a tall, pillar-like shrine resting on a circular cobblestone floor. Soft green sunlight filtered down through the leaves of the trees above. And four people were standing around the shrine. Some of them were, at best, suspicious. One of them was in a gray suit like I'd seen other Cipher guys in. One was an old man in a purple cloak. Then there was a red-headed girl, and a boy with silver hair that wore a long blue trench coat.

There were several Pokémon around them as well: Espeon, Umbreon, and Hitmontop. The Hitmontop was a Shadow Pokémon.

I couldn't quite tell what was happening. Were the Pokémon cooperating, or battling? They were darting around, but weren't landing any hits. Maybe they were just preparing to attack the shrine. Espeon and Umbreon dashed around the shrine towards Hitmontop, who spun out of the way and made for the shrine. His spinning kicks could easily break off chunks of the pillar. I opened my mouth, preparing to tell my Pokémon to stop him from hitting the shrine. But I knew we were too late. He was only a foot away from the Relic. Then Hitmontop was suddenly thrown backwards where he landed in a confused sprawl. It was as though he'd stuck an invisible wall. I realized that Mewtwo had used his powers to shield the shrine. I gave him the thumbs up.

Patch swooped out, preparing to attack Hitmontop. But then the Espeon and Umbreon bounded forwards, growling menacingly. Espeon used Psychic. Patch flinched, but took the attack. He dodged as Umbreon tried to use Bite. Patch flapped his wings to blow the two of them backwards. Hitmontop spun in to use Triple Kick, but Patch used his tail to knock him backwards. He grabbed Hitmontop's feet and hurled him to the ground, where he skidded into the hill. Patch quickly followed up with Flamethrower. And Mewtwo took the chance to snag the Hitmontop.

Patch turned to face Espeon and Umbreon, but then the Cipher guy exclaimed in frustrating, "If you hadn't brought in reinforcements, you wouldn't have stopped me from catching Celebi!" He turned and fled.

So, these other guys here weren't the enemy, then.

"Who are you?" Demanded the boy in the blue trench coat. "Are you with Team Snagem?"

"How did you steal that Hitmontop?" The girl asked.

I opened my mouth, unsure of where to begin.

"Wait, wait," said the older man, "Hang on a second. Don't bombard the girl with questions all at once. First of all, you're not with Cipher or Snagem, are you?"

"Of course not!" I exclaimed.

"Good, good," he said. "Now, my name's Eagun. Who are you?"

"Cara. And this is Hari." I paused, not sure how I should introduce Mewtwo. So I didn't.

"I'm Rui," the girl said. "And this is Wes."

"Now, how did you steal that Pokémon if you're not with Team Snagem?" Wes demanded.

Oooh. How to explain that one, huh? "It's a special Pokéball to steal Shadow Pokémon," I replied. "I'm trying to get them all so I can make them whole again."

"So, it's you that's been doing that," Rui said, intrigued. "We wondered how they seemed to be disappearing. Is that why you came here?"

"What?"

"To purify the Shadow Pokémon?" She asked, confused. "This is the place where you can purify them."

"It is?" I exclaimed.

"Didn't you know?" She asked, cocking her head.

I shook my head. "I came because someone said that people were causing trouble. What did that guy mean when he said he wanted to catch Celebi?"

"Because this Relic here contains the power of Celebi," Eagun replied. "Celebi is the Pokémon that has the power to open the door to a Pokémon's heart. And it's said that you can summon Celebi to the Relic."

"Cipher wanted to catch Celebi and destroy the Relic to make it impossible to purify Pokémon," Wes said.

Hari made a shocked exclamation.

I clenched a fist. "What about you?" I asked. "How do you know about Shadow Pokémon?"

"I could ask the same of you," Wes said.

Well, okay. I didn't mind going first. "I have some psychic powers. I can sense Shadow Pokémon. I found one by accident, and started trying to find more of them."

"I can see auras," Rui said. "And Wes actually used to work for Team Snagem, but he quit. We're trying to stop them."

I nodded. "Okay, then. How do I use this Relic to purify a Pokémon?"

"Well," Rui said, "what we've learned is that you start to reawaken a Pokémon by battling it and keeping it with you. And then after a while, the power of the shrine will be strong enough to take the Pokémon through the final step of purification."

I picked up the Shadow Swablu's Pokéball. The swirling black aura around the Pokéball seemed to have diminished slightly. I hesitated, and then let Swablu out. I had to try.

Swablu appeared in front of the shrine and locked her eyes on the pillar. Her beak fell open slightly and her eyes misted over as though she were thinking of something very fondly. A green light flowed from the shrine, surrounding Swablu and enclosing her. Then it pulsed outwards, driving away the veil of darkness that clouded her aura. When it faded, I could feel her clear and whole once more.

Everyone stood for a moment, watching Swablu. She looked rather dazed, as though she didn't know how to react. Then she flapped her wings experimentally and gave a small chirp. This seemed to give her strength, for she burst into joyful song. I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding. Hari tugged happily at my arm, and Rui laughed. Wes seemed to relax slightly, and Eagun nodded approvingly. I glanced back at Mewtwo and he bowed his head in acknowledgement.

I lifted the bag that held the substantial pile of Pokéballs containing the Shadow Pokémon. I looked up at our companions. "Can I ask for your help?"

"How so?" Rui asked.

"I want to get some more of these guys purified. Which means I'm going to need some sparring partners."


	14. Beneath Pyrite

I'm not going to have Shadow Raikou, Entei, and Suicune in here. In the fanfic before this, Cara meets those three, and to have them turned into Shadow Pokémon just wouldn't work.

* * *

><p>Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta), Cirrus-Swablu, Phantom-Darkrai<p>

Beneath Pyrite

We spent that night at Eagun's house. Wes and Rui helped me until noon the next day by battling with my Shadow Pokémon. I was able to get the majority of them purified. I sent most of them back to Avalon since they were a hassle to cart around, though I kept Swablu with me. Now that she was once again whole, I gave her a nickname: Cirrus.

We had to pause often to let our Pokémon rest. During one of these breaks, my phone rang. I answered, expecting Ben since he was the source of moset of my calls. But it was Duking.

Wes, Rui, Hari, and Mewtwo all gathered around to listen. Although I hadn't given details about Mewtwo's identity, I _had_ told Wes and Rui that he was a Pokémon that could talk. Since Mewtwo didn't really speak with them much, his presence would have been incredibly suspicious otherwise.

"Hey, Cara," Duking said. "We have some news. First of all, there's trouble up at Mount Battle. It looks like Cipher has invaded one of the Areas. But also, Silva found out where the Shadow Pokémon were coming from. The building where Miror B's hideout was has an elevator, and the Shadow Pokémon were being delivered up out of there."

I glanced at my companions.

"I don't know where Mount Battle is," I said.

"It would be easy to spot from the air," Wes said. "But we can go there if you want to take care of Pyrite."

I nodded. I would rather find out about the Shadow Pokémon, since that was my priority. "Okay. Call me if you find out anything. Are we ready to head out?" I asked Metwo and Hari.

The two of them nodded. I raised a hand in farewell to Wes and Rui, and they returned the gesture as they headed toward the entrance of Agate Village. No doubt we'd meet again, though I wasn't sure where this lead would take me.

I sent out Patch and Hari and I climbed into place.

"Are we going back to the desert again?" Hari asked miserably.

"'Fraid so. But we'll be coming back here soon enough to purify some more Shadow Pokémon. We're ready, Patch!"

Patch took to the air. Mewtwo rose beside us and we made once more for the sea of sand. Hari slumped miserably against Patch's back as the heat hit us once more. I smiled sympathetically.

It didn't take long to reach Pyrite. Patch landed in to the side of the massive chasm between the city and the Colosseum, out of sight of most of the city.

"I wonder," I said, as I returned Patch, "Duking said that they were bringing Shadow Pokémon _up_ from somewhere. A basement, maybe? Or…" I broke off and peered down into the blackness of the chasm below us. "Why is this thing here anyway?" I asked.

"Should I fly down and find out?" Mewtwo offered.

I hesitated. "No. If there actually is something down there, a person dropping out of the sky would be hard to hide. I think we should send someone a little bit stealthier." I lifted one of the vision balls (which is what Mewtwo and I decided to call his Pokéballs, because of the eye design on the front of them). It was the first of the vision balls I'd ever used, to catch a Darkrai that was being controlled by Team Rocket. "I think this job would be perfect for Phantom, as he was kind enough to join us here." I tossed out the ball, letting Phantom out. "Thanks for offering to come and help," I told him.

Phantom bowed his head. "I thought my skills might be of some use under these circumstances."

"You were right. We need someone to sneak down in this chasm. Can you tell us what you find?"

"Of course," Phantom said. He melted away into the shadows and slipped over the edge of the ravine.

Phantom didn't take long. His shadow appeared a minute later, and he rose up from the ground.

"There is a city under there," Phantom announced.

"Excuse me?"

"There is a city beneath us," Phantom repeated. "It's build in a cavern further down the ravine."

"Well, I'd say that certainly warrants investigation," I said, scratching my head. "Is there any way for us to fly down there without people noticing?"

"I would think so. There are some dark corners that you could float down, if you were quiet and slow."

"Great," I said. "Let's do it! Can you take us down, Mewtwo?"

"Or course," He said.

Hari picked up Gro, and a moment later, Mewtwo used his psychic powers to lift us into the air. Then he gently lowered the three of us over the edge of the chasm. Phantom melted into shadows once more to move ahead and scout out the path.

The sunlight diminished until it disappeared completely. I tensed as pitch-blackness surrounded us. Since I couldn't feel anything beneath my feet or under my hands, it was a rather creepy sensation. As if I was the last thing left alive. I shuddered, but prevented myself from reaching out to touch something.

Then I saw lights. They were below us, coming out of the chasm. They weren't bright, but they did grow stronger as we drew closer.

Up against the side of the crevasse, a massive cavern was carved into the earth. It was filled with buildings , streets, and people. It was indeed an underground city. And it was very much active.

Mewtwo lowered us to a dark corner beside Phantom, and then released us from his psychic powers. I returned Phantom so he wouldn't draw attention, and the three of us stepped out into the city called the Under.

I glanced around at the people that passed by. They didn't look like the friendliest crowd. Their clothes seemed faded and ratty. Nor was the city very impressive. Pipes dripped some radioactive-looking purple sludge into puddles around the edge of the city. The streets were grimy. Lights from the dull shops flickered bleakly.

What do people _do_ in a place like this? I wouldn't live here if you paid me!

Hari stuck his tongue out in disgust. Especially since he didn't wear shoes.

We continued forwards, wondering where to begin. Luckily that choice was made for us.

"Hey, are you Hari?"

Who the heck would know Hari in a place like this? We all turned to see a boy in a red cap staring at us.

"Yeah, I am," said Hari.

"I though so!" Exclaimed the boy. "Marcia told me about you. My name's Perr."

"Oh, yeah!" Hari said.

"Who?" I said blankly.

"Come with me," Perr said. He led us to a house with a big satellite dish thing out front. Mewtwo slipped away to wait outside and keep watch, but Hari and I followed. Perr took us downstairs where we found three other kids. A boy and a girl were sitting at a table, and another boy was working at a computer in the next room over."

"Hey, guys!" Perr called. "I brought Hari and Cara!"

The three kids looked up, surprised.

"Really," said the girl excitedly.

The boy at the computer jumped to his feet and dashed into the room. "Really? Cara and Hari?"

"See," Hari explained in response to my dismayed expression, "while you were catching a bunch of Shadow Pokémon up in Pyrite, I talked to Marcia, Duking's daughter. I told her what we were doing. A bunch of kids up there were trying to figure out way to help with the Shadow Pokémon problem. Marcia said she'd see if they could help us."

I recalled seeing Marcia at some point, though I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her.

"I'm Nett, said the boy from the computer. "This is Megg and Bitt. All of us kids are part of a group called the Kid's Grid."

"Actually," said Perr, "I just came to deliver a part that could help us."

"Oh you brought it!" Nett exclaimed, taking some mechanical piece from Perr and bringing it to his computer. "See," he explained, "Cipher's trying to jam our radio signal, so we needed this to boost our power. Once we have everything running again, we can hack into Cipher's computers! I can call you if I find any useful data."

"Oh, that would be great," I said, surprised and amused at the same time. This kid working at the computer reminded me an awful lot of Ben.

"Just so you know," Perr said, "the person in charge of this place is called Lady Venus. If you want to find out about Shadow Pokémon, you should find her. She's across the ravine, but you need a UFO disk to get over there."

"We can fly over," I assured him. "Thanks." I turned to Hari. "Do you want to wait here and update these guys on what we learned? I need to look around the Under." I didn't think he'd want to look around the Under with me. And it would be good for him to hang out with kids. Assuming he behaved himself and didn't weird the other kids out.

"Okay," he agreed brightly.

"Don't let him near your computer," I cautioned Nett.

Hari grinned sheepishly.

I left the house and emerged in the dingy Under once more. I would have liked to stay and talk with the Kids Grid some more, but I didn't have time for that. Lady Venus, huh? What could I learn from her?

Mewtwo dropped down off of the roof and landed at my side. The two of us headed back to the ravine, which actually continued down past the under. Across the ravine from us was another Colosseum, seated directly beneath the Pyrite Colosseum. To the side of that, on a separate platform, was a different doorway. It looked as though the normal way to cross this gap was by a strange hover device, which required a key. Luckily, we didn't need to worry about that. Although Mewtwo could have easily levitated us across the gap, we wanted to remain inconspicuous, so we climbed in the craft, and he simply moved it with his powers.

We went to the building to the side of the Colosseum and opened the door.

It looked like a filming studio. Camera equipment was set up, and there was a podium for someone to give a speech.

In fact, someone was standing in front of the cameras, preparing to film even as we walked in. She wore a strange gold headdress with a pink veil, and had a white dress with large gaudy blue stones around the hem. She was speaking with her filming crew, and hadn't noticed our entry.

I stepped slowly forwards, leaving Mewtwo at the door. I came to a stop behind the crew, staring directly at the woman who must have been Lady Venus.

It took her about a minute to take notice of me.

"Who are you?" She asked. "If you want an autograph, you'll have to wait until after the shoot."

I strode directly towards her, smirking.

"It wasn't an autograph I was looking for, so much as a question I want answered. Where are you getting the Shadow Pokémon from?"

For a moment, she looked confused. Then her eyes widened as she realized who I was. No doubt they'd already wired pictures of me around their little organization.

Without another word, she threw out a pair of Pokéballs, revealing Delcatty and Vileplume. I wasn't in the mood for wasting time, so I sent out Patch.

_Blow them away,_ I said simply.

Patch gave an eager growl. I'd instructed him to hold back so as to not reveal his powers. I had no desire of a repeat of the incident with the clone Pikachu. But I knew that Patch would be careful.

Patch spread his wings and roared, creating a hurricane with his wing beats. Then he opened his maw and sent out a molten blast of fire. That alone was enough to wipe out both Vileplume and Delcatty.

Lady Venus let out a small yelp and her crew gasped. She returned her Pokémon, and I waited for her to send out more. Instead, she turned and disappeared down a staircase.

I returned Patch and followed after her. Mewtwo followed silently at my heels.


	15. The Lab

Blehhh. School started on Thursday. I should be reading my homework… but I'm not. Heheh.

Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta), Cirrus-Swablu, Phantom-DarkraiOutr opponents sent out several of their Pokémon to meet us.

* * *

><p>The Lab<p>

We ran down a hallway after Lady Venus, and emerged in a stairwell that lead down deep into the earth. An elevator shaft ran through the center of the spiraling staircase. We could hear the gears humming as Venus escaped down the elevator. Mewtwo prepared to levitate us down after her, but a small group of trainers were roused to attention by our arrival and came to battle us.

During the time it took to beat them, Lady Venus escaped. But I was able to snag several more Shadow Pokémon, of which the Sneasel looked promising.

We finally made it to the bottom of the stairwell and through the doorway to find ourselves in a subway tunnel. But the subway car wasn't there.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Mewtwo said, following the subway tracks with his eyes.

"Have I mentioned how awesome it is having you in our group," I said, laughing.

Mewtwo gave a half smile. "What about Hari?"

I hesitated. I hated to leave Hari behind, but I didn't want the trail to run cold either. Finally I took out Phantom's Pokéball and let him out.

"Can you do me a favor" I asked. "I need you to go back to Hari and stay with him until we get back."

Darkrai cocked his head, but nodded in agreement. He faded away into the darkness of the Under. At least now Hari and the Kid's Grid had a sort of bodyguard.

I turned to Mewtwo and nodded. He used his psychic powers to lift me off the ground. We raced along through the air, following the tracks. I was surprised at how far they went. It took as long as it would have taken to fly to Phenac.

When the tracks ended, we found ourselves in an underground station with the subway parked in front of the platform. We stormed up the stairs and found ourselves in what must have been some sort of laboratory. I glanced around, but didn't see anyone.

"Do you know where we are? I mean, if we're near any cities?"

"Judging from the direction and distance traveled, we're somewhere to the northwest of Phenac," Mewtwo said. "Maybe between there and Agate Village."

We walk down one of the hallways, wondering what we'd find.

"Wait," Mewtwo said, pausing in front of a room with a small window set in it. He peered inside.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We need to go in there," he said. "But there's people in there."

"Luckily a friend of mine can fix pretty much any problem."

Mewtwo gave a small shake of his head, but smiled.

We stepped away from the door and Mewtwo raised his hand. Blue fire built around his fingers and a dull thud sounded somewhere in the distance. There were startled voices from the room, and then the people hurried through another door to investigate the noise. The moment they were gone, Mewtwo's psychic powers shut and locked the door behind them. This left us free to enter the room without interference.

"What did you sense in here?" I asked.

Mewtwo paced around the room until he stopped at a rack that held a small selection of Pokéballs. I hurried to his side and examined them. Yes, there was no doubt about it. There was a faint shadowy aura coming from the Pokéballs. I scooped the six of them into my bag. Mewtwo went over to a computer and used his powers to bring up some relevant information.

"This lab researches Shadow Pokémon," Mewtwo informed me. "It's run by a man named Ein. Come on. This way."

Metwo took the lead, following directions he'd gotten from the computer. A couple times we had to duck through a doorway when someone approached, but we avoided incident. Finally we arrived in a room with large strange boxes lined along the floor. For some freaky reason, they reminded me of coffins.

Across the room was a man in a long white coat. He was sitting in front of a computer and didn't turn around right away. He obviously didn't think we were anyone of consequence.

Mewtwo remained behind the nearest box, and I stepped out from around it, unlatching a Pokéball from my belt as I did so.

"So," I said very coldly, "What's the purpose of destroying a Pokémon's soul, then?"

The man named Ein turned in his chair to face me. For a moment he looked confused. Then recognition flashed across his face and he got to his feet.

"So, you're the one causing trouble for us, are you? Why don't you tell me instead how one girl seems able to do so much damage?"

"That's a simple answer," I said darkly. "That's because I'm not one girl. I have a lot of friends!"

I sent out the Shadow Sneasel and Ore. Ein narrowed his eyes before sending out Golbat and Altaria. Golbat screeched out a Supersonic. Sneasel managed to dart out of the way, but Ore got hit by the full force. He paused and knelt to the ground, shutting his eyes to avoid doing damage to himself or Sneasel. Instead Ore focused on the auras of his opponents, which he knew he couldn't get confused about. As Sneasel leapt up and came down on Golbat, Ore shot Aura Sphere at Altaria. Sneasel's Icy Wind hit both opponent's hard. Ore jumped in to use Force Palm against Golbat, but Golbat bit down on Ore's arm. Ore flinched and threw Golbat off to finish him with Aura Sphere. But Golbat's poisons had already taken root. Ore hunched, panting slightly, but remained poised for battle.

Ein sent out Lanturn next. Sneasel leapt on Lanturn and began slashing away. Lanturn sent out a blast of electricity that immediately knocked Sneasel out. I sent Cirrus out next, who immediately engaged Altaria.

Ore, destabilized by the spreading poison, went for Lanturn. And when the poison finally took Ore down, he brought Lanturn with him. I sent out Tyra at the same time that Ein sent his Huntail out.

Then Cirrus and Altaria faced each other and began to beat their wings. The opposing forces created a small tornado in the center of the room. Tyra quickly used Flamethrower to fill the tornado with hot embers, and she followed up with Sandstorm to add blinding flecks of sand to the vortex. Tyra swiftly gouged a small hollow in the floor and hunkered down to avoid the whirling elements. Altaria immediately got sucked in, and Huntail soon after. My little Swablu beat her wings frantically to try to avoid the swirling sand and fire, but she was losing ground.

I grit my teeth, praying for her to find the strength to escape. But it was no use. She wasn't a strong enough flier and she cried out as the flickering flames singed her wings.

Then she began to glow.

"Yess!" I breathed excitedly. And a moment later, Cirrus the Altaria soared down out of the pull of the tornado to huddle beside Tyra.

When the whirling attack finally faded, Ein's Pokémon lay crumpled and beaten on the floor. Really, these guys were a pushover compared to some of the people I've fought. More dedicated to making mutant Pokémon than training the ones they already had.

Ein glared at me as he returned his Pokémon. "It's not like beating me has done you any good. There's no Shadow Pokémon left here, especially considering I received word that several Pokéballs containing Shadow Pokémon disappeared from upstairs. I suppose that was your doing as well. And our most powerful shadow Pokémon have already been shipped out. In fact, I'm sure they're waiting for you at the tower right now. So go away and leave me alone."

I snorted. "And where's _your _Shadow Pokémon then? Don't they give any to their higher-ranking thugs?"

Ein sneered at me. "Master Nascour is currently in possession of them. Go see for yourself if you don't believe me."

I dearly wanted to do something to him, but his tip about the tower was too appealing to put off. So I returned Tyra and Cirrus. Mewtwo and I headed back to the subway station. From there we flew back along the tracks.

We found Hari happily in conversation with Megg and Bitt. Phantom was sitting in a corner where Perr was eying him with interest.

The moment I walked in, Nett dashed up to me. "Cara! I hacked into Cipher's computers and found a list of the Shadow Pokémon!"

"That's great!" I exclaimed. Now I'd be able to track down any I'd missed. I didn't want to leave any Pokémon in their pitiful, corrupted state.

"I'll send it to your Pokégear right now," Perr said, dashing back to his computer.

"Hari," I said, "we're going back to Agate village to purify a couple more Pokémon, and then we're going to the big tower between Phenac and Pyrite."

Hari cocked his head, trying to think of the tower. Then he nodded. "All right. Are we going now?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?" Perr asked.

"We found out where the boss of Cipher is," I explained. "We're going to take him down."

"Oooh, great!" Megg exclaimed.

"Give them one from me," Nett called from his computer.

"Sure," I said. "See ya later!"

* * *

><p>Back at the shrine, I let my new Sneasel out to purify her. The moment the shadowy aura cleared, she glanced around with clear eyes for the first time. I knelt in front of her.<p>

"Hey! I'm about to go and fight the people that made the Shadow Pokémon. What do you say to coming and helping me?"

"Snea!" Sneasel exclaimed, clacking her claws together and looking eager.

Footsteps sounded behind me and I turned to see Wes and Rui approaching.

"We saw you headed for the shrine," Rui explained.

"Well, you have good timing," I said. "We're about to go and teach the boss of Cipher a lesson."

"We're coming," Wes announced. "You might run into the boss of Team Snagem there, and I still owe him one."

I hesitated, but Wes was a strong fighter. "All right. Are you ready to leave now?"

Wes nodded, looking determined.

"Well, okay. Let's go then."

I returned Sneasel. Hari, Mewtwo, Gro and I followed Wes and Rui down to the entrance of Agate Village. Wes had this awesome motorcycle parked there. Rui hopped into the passenger car, and Wes climbed behind the handlebars. The vehicle roared to life and sped off across the desert. Patch flew above them, heading for the Realgam Tower. We landed in the fancy courtyard in front of the tower to meet up with Wes and Rui.

"We're going to fly to the upper level," I explained. "You can take the lower level. We'll meet you guys there once everything is clear."

We nodded and the two of them disappeared through the rot sliding doors.

Patch took us up to the second level, directly below the massive stadium that touched the sky.

We hovered outside for a moment, peering through the glass to see who was in the room. There were two men standing there. And to my surprise, I recognized one of them. He was the weird silver-haired dude in the purple outfit that we'd run into at Phenac City. He turned his head and stared directly at us before turning and very deliberately stepping into the elevator. He rose up to the arena above us.

"He wants us to follow him," Mewtwo noted.

I nodded. "And we definitely will." But the second man was watching us as we hovered outside. He grinned rather threateningly. "That guy looks like he needs that smirk wiped off his face first," I said.

So Mewtwo used his powers to open one of the windows and lower us inside.


	16. Three Broken Ones

I took part in a Pokémon contest on Deviantart called Pokéventure. I just finished my entry about a week ago, and the contest ends tonight. I used Polaris as my main character, and Cara was in part of it too. Since fanfic doesn't like links to outside pages I'd be happy to direct the way for anyone who would like to read it. ^-^ It's 4 chapters long with a couple pictures thrown in.

In other news, I decided to include the trio. You'll see what I mean. In case you're wondering, Cara met them in the previous "volume" of her fanfic.

Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Larvitar (fire Delta), Cirrus-Swablu, Clora-Sneasel, Phantom-Darkrai

* * *

><p>Three Broken Ones<p>

My feet touched the floor and Hari, Gro, and Mewtwo landed beside me. I returned Patch and faced the man who was waiting for us. He was muscular and bald except for a ridiculously long eyebrows and moustache.

"So," he said, "I've heard that you're friends with our little Wes. I still owe him one for blowing up our hideout."

That's right. Wes mentioned that he used to work for Team Snagem – a team allied with Cipher. "You're from Team Snagem." It wasn't a question.

"I'm Gonzap, the boss of Team Snagem," said the man. "And conveniently enough, I also owe you one for causing so much trouble."

I sighed. I was expecting it, but that didn't make it any less dull. How many times had I heard this since coming to Orre?

"What do you say? Do you want to get this over with quickly? How about one-on-one? I know your only interest is in Shadow Pokémon, so that's what I'll use. You'd better make your choice wisely."

I reached to my belt, but hesitated. I could hear Tyra calling me. She wanted this fight. My first choices would have been Patch or Ore, since Tyra wasn't as seasoned as them.

I closed my fingers around a Pokéball and tossed it out, releasing the Larvitar.

Gonzap sent out a Skarmory. A Shadow Skarmory. At the very least, we had a type advantage if not a level advantage. And Gonzap didn't know that my Larvitar was fire type as opposed to a ground/rock type. That should throw our opponent for a loop.

Skarmory let out a deafening, grating screech and took to the air. His blade-like wings sliced through the air.

Before Tyra could do anything, Skarmory circled around and slammed her backwards. She tumbled several feet before landing on her stomach, the wind knocked out of her. Wincing, she pushed herself to her feet and faced Skarmory, who had landed on one of the railings and was eying her coldly.

Tyra clenched her fists and gave a small growl and a determined lick of flame escaped from her mouth. She was one determined little girl.

Skarmory launched forwards again, and once more sent Tyra flying backwards. She got to her feet and this time when Skarmory swooped down, raking with his claws, Tyra grabbed onto one of his feet. She held on tightly and tilted her head upwards to unleash Flamethrower. Skarmory let out a startled shriek and beat his foot against the glass wall to knock Tyra off. She managed to balance herself on one of the window ledges. Skarmory turned and used Air Cutter. Tyra hopped along the windowsill just in time to avoid the attack, which shattered the window and sprayed shards of glass about the room. Skarmory shot a series of Air Cutter and Swift attacks as Tyra sprinted desperately along the windowsill. Glass shattered and cracked all around the room and Tyra flinched and kept her head covered. But she wasn't very fast and most of the attacks barely missed her. Before long, she'd run in a full circle around the room and was panting hard. Except now she was standing in front of a broken window with a tremendous drop to one side.

Tyra opened her mouth and unleashed a billowing Smokescreen. It filled the room and slowed Skarmory for a few moments, but the wind blew through the shattered windows and quickly carried it away.

Tyra turned just in time to see Skarmory diving right at her with Shadow Rush. She let out a frightened cry, and then quite suddenly, the two of them vanished out the window.

I inhaled sharply when I saw Skarmory come into view alone. He wasn't holding Tyra.

"So much for that battle," Gonzap said. "I don't suppose you'll see that little Larvitar in one piece anymore."

"That's what you think," I retorted. I knew that even if Tyra fell, Mewtwo would catch her. But he didn't have to worry about that. Tyra had managed to grip the ledge and she pulled herself back into view, scratched and tired, but still ready to fight.

She started running along the windowsill again, glancing outside to check that Skarmory wasn't going to swoop in at her. Finally she paused to get her breath back. Then Skarmory appeared, dropping into view and shooting straight at Tyra. Tyra saw him coming and gave a small smile. Skarmory hadn't noticed the faint smoky tint that remained in the window frame in front of Tyra. Most of the windows had been shattered, but the purpose of Tyra's smokescreen had been to tint the remaining glass so she could find the right spot. The window she was standing in front of was the only one left intact. And Skarmory didn't know that.

Tyra waited until the last possible second to roll off of the window sill and onto the floor. The moment she slipped out of the way, Skarmory crashed through the window, squawking in pain and sending glass flying in every direction. I was grateful for the shield Mewtwo created to protect us from the shrapnel.

Skarmory crashed to the ground, his sharp wings gouging the floor.

Then Tyra's body started to shine and grow in a long overdue evolution. I didn't think she wanted to evolve, so this startled me. But the moment Tyra the Pupitar was standing there, she used Sandstorm. But instead of kicking up sand, it picked up the shards of glass and blew them in a whirl around the Skarmory who was trying to detangle his wings. Tyra sent out Flamethrower which got caught up in the swirl of glass and turned the shards white hot. Skarmory screeched as the flames and glass struck him.

And then Mewtwo sent out his Vision Ball and snagged Gonzap's Skarmory.

That was when I realized that a pair of spectators had arrived. Wes and Rui had shown up at some point, and were still standing in front of the elevator. Gonzap noticed them also. He smirked.

"So, Wes, you showed up after all. Somehow I'm not surprised."

Wes stared coldly at Gonzap and didn't reply.

"I don't suppose you'd rejoin us and put that Snag Machine to use again?" Gonzap suggested.

"I don't know why you even bother asking," Wes said icily.

"Actually," Gonzap said, "this girl seems to be able to steal Pokémon without using a Snag Machine. What's your secret, girlie?"

I didn't respond, but returned Tyra.

Gonzap shrugged. "Fine, fine. I'll get out of your way. They're waiting for you up top anyway so I shouldn't make them wait."

I narrowed my eyes, but stepped around him to the elevator. The elevator clearly wouldn't be large enough to fit all of us. Three, at the most.

"I'll take Hari through the outside," Mewtwo offered. "We'll wait by the sidelines unless you need us."

I hesitated, but nodded. "Yeah, all right."

Mewtwo levitated Hari ad Gro out of the window and the three of them flew up and out of sight. Wes, Rui, and I stepped into the elevator and we began to slide upwards.

"Hey," Wes said, "I got a hold of something I thought I should tell you about." He reached into his coat and pulled out a plain white flute. "It's a Time Flute. When I went to Mount Battle, a guy from Cipher was trying to steal this. If you take it to the Relic Stone and play it, it summons Celebi. Celebi can purify any Pokémon. So when we get out of here, you can use it to heal the rest of the Shadow Pokémon."

I didn't get a chance to respond because at that moment the elevator opened up on the top level of Realgam Tower. And we found ourselves in the center of a huge arena with the dome of the sky stretching close above us. I caught a glimpse of two figures perched on the roof of one of the bleachers. Mewtwo and Hari.

Then I turned my attention to the man across the stadium from me. It was Nascour, the dude with the wild hair that I'd bumped into at Phenac. And behind him were three figures that I recognized all too well.

An icy sensation filled my veins and my stomach dropped in horror. The three figures werewere Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Each of their auras blazed in dark shadowy colors. Cipher had turned the three legendaries into Shadow Pokémon.

I thought I'd felt ill when I'd first seen the Shadow Makuhita in Phenac. But now that I was facing these three Pokémon that I knew and spent time with… I was nearly sick in the middle of the arena. I pressed the nausea back and and replaced it with anger that welled dangerously inside me. They'd never get away with tainting my friends.

I pushed aside the memories of the few days I'd spent traveling with Raikou, Suicune, and Entei and pulled out a Pokéball. I spoke with deadly venom. "What you've done is unforgivable. We'll crush you, and you'll never escape."

"That's pretty big talk," Nascour responded, un-intimidated. "Let's see if you can back it up."

Raikou, Entei, and Suicune leapt forwards, their eyes clouded and filled with rage.

I sent out Patch, Ore, and Cirrus.

_Patch, you take Raikou. Cirrus, you follow Entei. And Ore, you get Suicune, _I called to my team.

They nodded to show they understood. Ore started with Aura Sphere, but Suicune bounded out of the way. Entei plowed right into Cirrus. Patch alone made immediate progress, dodging Raikou's lightning and bowling him over.

The battle was progressing very badly. Cirrus kept retreating and dodging Entei's attacks. But she wasn't used to such battles, and a moment later she was down.

Ore was doing better, but he was still outpaced by the legendary. He deflected most of Suicune's attacks and managed to get in a few of his own. He was holding his ground quite well.

Patch was doing the best. His enhanced stats let him avoid most of Raikou's attacks and do serious damage in return. Raikou was the only one of our opponents who was tiring.

But the moment Cirrus fell, Entei turned on Ore.

"Look out!" I shouted. But Ore didn't have time to react. Entei's flames surged over Ore and knocked him out instantly.

Then Entei and Suicune turned to face Patch.

Patch wildly tried to dodge the sudden three-front attack, but Suicune managed to drench him with a water attack.

My mind raced frantically. I knew that if Patch lost, Mewtwo would help. But was there any way to avoid that?

Yes…

"Wes," I cried. "Give me the Time Flute!"

"But we're not at the Relic Stone," Rui said.

"It doesn't matter. I met Celebi once. If I ask her, she might come here."

Wes hesitated, but handed me the flute. I held if for a minute and watched Patch laboring to stay airborne and away from his three powerful opponents. He managed to blast them with several powerful fire attacks, but they remained on the offensive.

_Celebi, _I prayed quietly, _I need your help. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are in danger, and we need you to help them. Please come to me. _

I raised the flute to my lips and began to play. The flute had a beautiful, clear tone that echoed around the stadium. I wasn't sure how much to play. But when Raikou summoned a bolt of lightning that struck Patch dead center, I gasped and lowered the instrument. Patch crashed to the ground and staggered to his feet, battered and grounded. Raikou. Entei and Suicune converged on him. From the roof of the bleachers, I saw Mewtwo prepare to intervene.

But he didn't have to.

At that moment, a bell-like sound chimed through the stadium and light pulsed through the air above our heads. A glowing shape appeared and floated down to hover in front of Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Three sets of eyes turned to gaze at Celebi. She fluttered in a circle around each of them in turn and then hovered between them once more. I watched as the shadowy aura melted away and the spirits of the three Pokémon returned to them. Then they turned to face me.

Relief flooded me as I saw the recognition in their eyes. They were back.

Raikou, Suicune, Entei, and Celebi came towards me and stood behind me. Patch limped to my side as well.

I looked across at Nascour's stunned face and grinned broadly.

"See, this is what happens when the people who fight for you aren't truly on your side," I taunted. So much for the leader of Cipher.

Nascour drooped visibly and moaned, "I'm sorry, sir! I failed!"

I blinked in confusion.

"Who's he talking to?" Rui asked, startled. "Why would he apologize and call someone 'sir?'"

The significance of his words slowly sunk in. Nascour wasn't the leader of Cipher. There was still someone above him. And that person left one of the audience boxes and walked towards us.


	17. Disperse

Sorry for being late. It was a busy weekend. You get a long chapter to make up for it.

Jeez. When I first played this game and Evice appeared, I went "holy frack! What a freaky little being!" He still freaks me out. If you don't know what I mean, I suggest you find a video on Yoube. Destroying him in battle gives me great pleasure.

I'm gonna have a couple chapter after this, just so ya know. ^-^

Patch-Charizard (clone), Ore-Lucaria, Tyra-Pupitar (fire Delta), Cirrus-Altaria, Clora-Sneasel, Phantom-Darkrai

* * *

><p>Disperse<p>

I raised my eyebrows, more disgusted than surprised. I recognized the man walking towards us. Judging by the shocked sounds behind me, so did Wes and Rui. I'd only seen him once, but honestly, he was hard to forget. Not many people were as short and round with hair as poofy and weird as the Es Cade's, the mayor of Phenac City.

I suppose that it was no coincidence that he showed up when I first saw Nascour and the Shadow Pokémon. I was so ill from having seen my first Shadow Pokémon that I didn't notice anything weird about him.

"Mr. Mayor, why are you here?" Rui asked. His appearance seemed to have confused her enough that she hadn't grasped the situation. Though she and Wes probably knew this guy better than I did, and were more shocked about his identity than I was.

Es Cade chuckled. "You still fail to understand? At times I am the affable mayor of Phenac… And at others, I am the secret boss of the criminal syndicate Cipher. I am Evice!" Suddenly the creepiest, most demonic, crazed look spread across his face. I made a face and stepped backwards. Man, he looked _really_ creepy now.

"How dare you meddle in our affairs so thoroughly!" he screeched menacingly. "The Shadow Pokémon we can resurrect from the start. But you, you'll never be forgiven! I'll destroy you utterly so you may never rise against me!"

As he said this, I mentally ran an inventory of my team. Cirrus and Ore were knocked out. Patch could barely stand. Tyra was tired from the fight against Skarmory. Only my new Sneasel was at full health. I did have Darkrai as a last resort. Plus Mewtwo, Hari and Gro were there if I needed them. Wes and Rui could lend a hand also. And then Raikou, Suicune, Entei, and Celebi were here too. Even if I lost, Evice wouldn't get away.

"That's what you think!" I shouted back at him. "Your Shadow Pokémon plan will _never_ come back! I'll do whatever it takes to make sure of that! All of us will! And I'm not the one who will never rise again! It's you!"

I hurled out Clora's Pokéball. She could at least stall for time before I sent Tyra out.

Evice sneered in amusement. "Since you don't seem to have much of a functioning team left, I'll stick with my trump card. We'll see if you sound so confident when you face the ultimate Shadow Pokémon. Your little dog friends were nothing more than experiments leading up to this one," Evice said, referring to Raikou, Suicune, and Entei.

I glanced back at them. They were bristling angrily at Evice. Celebi was perched on Entei's head, also glaring at the enemy.

"All right," I whispered to myself, turning back to the enemy. "I won't lose. Shadow Pokémon aren't stronger than my friends!"

Then Evice threw out his Pokéball. It burst open in a thick, swirling cloud. It parted to reveal a massive Tyranitar. It was worse than anything I'd seen yet. Tyranitar's aura was so thickly shadowed that I could barely see him through it. Behind me, I heard Rui gasp as she saw the same thing. Nausea hit me again and I tried desperately to close it out before I stopped myself. If I closed my mind, I would also close my link to Clora. I hesitated, then opened my mind again. My head throbbed and my stomach clenched as the Shadow force hit my unshielded mind. But I forced myself to bear it. The only way to win this was to keep my mind firmly linked with my Pokémon's.

Tyranitar threw back his head and roared. The stadium rumbled with the force of it. Sneasel flinched and took a startled step backwards. So did most everyone else.

Tyranitar used Earthquake. The entire tower bucked and swayed beneath us. I was flung from my feet and landed heavily on the ground. The floor cracked in several places, and some of the hunks of flooring shifted upwards or dropped lower.

Clora managed to avoid the worst of the damage by leaping onto Tyranitar's tail. But once the earthquake had faded, Tyranitar whipped around and sent Clora flying. She crashed heavily into part of the stadium that had shifted upwards.

Wincing, she pushed herself to her feet and used Icy Wind. Tyranitar barely even flinched and he immediately began to use Rock Slide. The broken pieces of stadium became his ammunition. He launched them into the air where they broke apart and came plummeting downwards like deadly meteors. We weren't safe from the attack either. I sprinted sideways to avoid a hunk of asphalt twice the size of my head, and promptly tripped over an uprooted piece of floor. I curled into a ball to make myself as small a target as possible. Then suddenly I was flying through the air. I flailed my arms wildly as I tried to reorient myself. That was when I realized that something was holding the back of my shirt. I craned my head around to see Suicune. She was gripping my shirt in her teeth and pulling me to safety. She deposited me and turned to offer me her back. I quickly climbed on. A moment later, Celebi appeared to perch on my lap. Behind me, Wes was riding Entei and Rui was on Raikou.

Suicune bounded across the stadium, dodging the rest of the falling boulders.

I quickly turned my attention back to the battle. Clora looked in bad shape. She was scratched and bruised, even after taking shelter beneath an overhang of plaster.

But she leapt out of hiding and began to use Agility interspersed with Fury Swipes and Faint Attack. But Tyranitar barely seemed to notice. It was as though all feeling was denied him. I grit my teeth. Some fighting machine. I wouldn't be surprised if he was designed to fight until he dropped dead. As was almost the case on New Island…

I shook my head. I needed to stay in the present.

Clora darted in to attack again, but Tyranitar's head snapped towards her, his blazing eyes locking onto their target. Tyranitar opened his jaws wide and released a burning Hyper Beam.

Clora screeched as she saw the attack coming towards her, but she couldn't move in time. The attack blasted her clear across the stadium. Clora slumped in a heap on the floor.

Trembling, I returned her and pulled out Tyra's Pokéball. I sent her out, Pupitar against Tyranitar.

As I looked at my new cocoon-like Pokémon, I realized why she had avoided evolving for so long. Pupitar were hardly agile. What was she going to do against the massive thing bearing down on her?

Tyra gave an odd little hop, but she wasn't used to her new body yet, and she nearly capsized. She quickly spun around and used Flamethrower against Tyranitar. But it didn't slow him down in the least. Tyranitar rose up out of the smoke and whipped his tail around, sending Tyra flying into a pile of rubble.

I flinched and tried to see where she had landed, but she seemed to have been embedded in the broken plaster and cement of the stadium. Without arms or legs, how would she ever get out? Suicune bounded around the rubble as I tried to figure out her location. But Tyranitar stomped towards us, forcing Suicune to retreat.

_Tyra! _I called out frantically. _Are you okay? _

She didn't respond.

Tyranitar reached the debris and stared down at it, as though deciding how best to reach his prey. Something bright shone beneath the cement. Was Tyra trying to use fire to blast herself out?

Then the rubble shifted and something huge rose out of it. Tyra, a newly evolved Tyranitar, threw back her head and roared thunderously. Now I knew shy she'd waited so long to evolve. She was at such a high level that she could go directly from Pupitar to Tyranitar.

Tyra charged towards her foe and the two locked fists. For a moment, they wrestled each other from side to side, and then Tyranitar opened his mouth to unleash Hyper Beam. Tyra ducked and rammed her head into Tyranitar's stomach, shoving him backwards. His Hyper Beam chocked out as the wind was knocked out of him.

Then I thought of something. Even if Tyranitar was forced to ignore pain, there were still other ways to stop him. I quickly relayed my plan to Tyra. I hoped that I knew enough about the topic for Tyra to figure it out.

Tyra jabbed at Tyranitar's inner elbow with her fingers, but Tyranitar dodged and rammed into her chest with Shadow Rush. Then Tyranitar opened his mouth and unleashed Hyper Beam.

It struck dead center, slamming Tyra back into the bleachers.

_Get up, quickly! _I exclaimed. _You have a few moments while he recharges from the Hyper Beam! _

Tyra pushed herself to her feet, wincing. Then threw herself forwards, stampeding towards her foe. She opened her mouth and sent out Fire Spin.

Tyranitar didn't try to dodge the fire attack. It would, after all, do very little damage against him and it was easier to just wait it out.

Not.

Tyra dove into the flame twister and jabbed at Tyranitar's inner elbow. She dashed out and around to strike behind his knee. Around to hit his other knee, and then again at his other elbow.

Tyranitar snarled in fury and swiped out at her, but she'd already backed away.

Fire Spin fizzled out, leaving Tyranitar looking a bit singed, but still strong.

Tyra eyed him warily, not sure if our tactic had worked. Tyranitar made as though to move towards her, but the moment he took a step, his leg bucked and he dropped to his knees.

"Good job, Tyra," I whispered. She had compromised Tyranitar's arm and leg joints, making them too weak for quick movements.

But even then, Tyranitar opened his mouth and blasted out Hyper Beam. Tyra, seeing what was coming, quickly released another Fires Spin. The fire engulfed Tyranitar just as Hyper Beam struck Tyra once more and sent her crashing to the ground. She staggered to her feet, barely hanging on to consciousness. She pushed herself into a gallop once more, heading for Tyranitar who was still trapped in Fire Spin.

Tyra cocked her fist back and flames licked around her claws. The moment she reached the fire, she swung her arm forwards with a Fire Punch and sent Tyranitar reeling to the ground.

I was so caught up in the battle that the appearance of Mewtwo's Vision Ball and the disappearance of Tyranitar startled me.

I released a deep sigh. "Good job, Tyra."

She sank to her knees, completely spent. I returned her so she could rest.

Suicune glanced back at me and nodded. Celebi gave a small cheer. I'd forgotten she was on my lap.

Evice shrieked in fury. "How dare you! How dare you steal my ultimate Shadow Pokémon! You'll pay! I'll make you pay! Nascour! Come!"

I was wondering what else these guys could do now that I had all their Shadow Pokémon. But as they each pulled out Pokéballs, I realized that they still had the rest of their team left. Cursing, I reached for my last Pokémon: Darkrai.

Nascour and Evice sent out five Pokémon each. And one of them was a shadow Metagross.

I cursed again under my breath. Only Phantom was left…

Raikou and Entei bounded up besides Suicune and I.

"We'll help this time," Wes said.

_All of us will help, _Suicune said.

"Bi!" Celebi agreed.

A grin slowly spread across my face. "Well, all right then. Let's finish this! We'll take the Shadow Metagross. Can you guys handle the rest until we join you?"

The others nodded. All of us dashed off in different directions. Wes let out his Espeon and Umbreon. Celebi flew off my lap and went after a Machamp. Raikoi and Entei shot out attacks in every direction as Wes called orders to his Pokémon.

The battle progressed so quickly and was such a tangled mass of bodies that it was hard to tell what was going on. I could only get scattered images. Suicune leapt over a Scizor and landed in front of Metagross. A blast of ice shot over my head and I flattened myself to Suicune's back, sheltering beneath her billowing mane. She turned her head and used Aurora Beam at Xatu.

I threw out Phantom's Pokéball and Darkrai appeared. Metagross stomped his feet and rumbled out a challenge cry. He used Psychic, but it had no effect on the Dark type, of course. Phantom countered with Faint Attack and Night Shade. Metagross rumbled again and sent out Hyper Beam. Darkrai dropped into the shadows to avoid it, and Suicune bounded out of the way. Darkrai reappeared behind Metagross and used Dark Void, plunging Metagross into sleep. I pulled out a Vision Ball and snagged the Metagross.

Well, that was significantly easier than the last snag. Though Phantom was a high-level legendary, so that wasn't too surprising.

"Let's help the others," I called.

Suicune turned to face the brawl behind us. Phantom glided beside us.

Suicune used Surf to knock out Blaziken. Darkrai went after Dusclops.

Suicune turned to help Celebi with Salamence. Salamence fell under Suicune's ice attacks. She whirled around to face another enemy, but there were none left. Espeon and Umbreon had just finished off the last foe: Slaking. We had won.

I turned to see Evice's enraged face. Heh. Serves you right, freak.

"What are you going to do now?" Wes taunted. "You don't have anything left!"

"It won't end this way next time!" Evice screeched. "I promise you!"

"As if there will be a next time!" I shouted at him. Then I heard something odd. I cocked my head, trying to listen. It was a strange vibrating, beating sound.

"What is it?" Rui asked.

_There!_ Celebi cried.

All of us looked up to see a helicopter buzzing towards us. There was no pilot. It must have been remote-controlled to pick up Evice in case of emergency. The coward was trying to escape!

The helicopter swooped low over the field, making towards Evice and Nascour.

Then a bright blue ball shot down from the roof of the bleachers and smashed into the helicopter. It exploded in a shower of glass and metal, and its blades went spinning away.

It was Mewtwo, of course. He was still watching over us.

Evice stared at the ash that rained down from his helicopter.

"I don't think your plan turned out very well," Rui said. I laughed.

Evice took a step backwards and turned as though to make towards the elevator. Rui cried out, but Celebi had already acted. She caused vines to spring out of the floor of the tower. They whipped forwards and caught Evice around the ankles. He crashed to the ground and the vines bound his hands and feet. A moment later, they entangled themselves around Nascour as well.

I turned and gave Wes and Rui the thumbs up. Wes gave a small smile, and Rui laughed happily.

The enemy wasn't going to escape now.

…

Duking, Silva, and Eagun showed up minutes later with the police. They took Evice and Nascour away. Duking told me that they'd already caught Ein, Lady Venus, and some guy called Dakim. Hari came down to join us, but Mewtwo remained out of sight, as usual.

It was hard not to celebrate right there on the top of the tower. But we still had work to do. But it didn't take us long to track down the remaining Shadow Pokémon since we knew which ones we were missing and who had them (thanks to the Kids Grid). Celebi purified all of them for us before she and the three legendary dogs took off to the four winds. I was glad that I'd gotten to see them again.

"Where are you going now?" Rui asked as we watched Raikou, Suicune, and Entei disappear into the distance.

I hesitated. "We actually came here to try out the Colosseums. Orre is supposed to be famous for them."

"Have you tried any of the challenges yet?" Wes asked.

"Not one," I admitted. "I got distracted."

"I might enter some of them also," Wes said. "I'd like the chance to challenge you to a real match."

I nodded. His Espoen and Umbreon were quite formidable. "That would be a good battle."

"Pyrite Colosseum is closest. What do you say?"

"What do you think, guys?" I asked Mewtwo and Hari.

Mewtwo gave one of his small nods.

"Yeah!" Hari cried.

"Cool! Let's get going then." I leapt onto Patch's back with Hari. Wes and Rui climbed on the bike. Our procession headed out across the desert, on to another challenge.


	18. Raging Red

Okay, I just have to announce to you all that I got a kitten. ^-^ I've been trying to talk Mom into it for 3 years since my cat died, and I finally succeeded. I'm sooo happy!

You get a really long comment today. And a rather long chapter too, I think.

I skipped a week of posting. I can't guarantee that won't happen more this semester. -_- Bleh. School.

There's a couple random chapters I'm gonna do before I head on to the next installment of Cara fanfics.

So, yeah. The egg. I apologize if you think it's a lame idea. But I _realllllllyyy _wanted to do it. I've had his character in my head for ages, and there's no way I'm gonna leave him out. So there. :3

By the way, I'd like to remind you all of the ever-existing loophole. No one knows where Pokémon eggs come from. They just magically appear at the daycare. Not that I need to mention that but… never mind. I should shut up before I make a fool of myself.

Polaris-Ponyta, Lily-Mewtwo, Cassie-Ponyta, Orion-Ponyta, -Annie-Ponyta, Tahoe-Flygon(shiny), Sage-Gardevoir, Leviathan-Gyarados.

* * *

><p>Raging Red<p>

The most amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing thing in the world! So precious and wonderful that I can't even begin to describe it. Suffice it to say that Ben could barely drag me out of the cave to get me to eat.

An egg. A transparent lavender-colored egg with blue flames flickering in its center. Blue flames exactly the same as the manifestation of Mewtwo's psychic powers.

I learned about it this morning, and I've spent the entire day in the cave where Mewtwo and Lily live. Ben was kind enough to bring me a book to read as I sat beside the little nest Lily made for the egg. I sat on one side of it, and Lily sat on the other. I kept picking the egg up and hugging it, or placing my hand on its warm surface. Mewtwo and Lily surprisingly weren't really bothered by my hovering. They were both incredibly nervous themselves. And I'm incredibly protective, despite the fact that Mewtwo would be the one to protect the egg, not me. And there wasn't actually anything dangerous on Avalon. Mewtwo and the rest of the Pokémon made sure of that.

Actually, Mewtwo's reaction to the whole thing has been rather amusing. He keeps walking up to it, starting at it, making as though to touch it, and then backing away as though he's scared of it.

"It won't bite," Lily assured him, just as amused as me.

Mewtwo sighed and sat down beside her. "Yes," he agreed.

I cocked my head, realizing something. "Are you afraid it's gonna hate you after it hatches?"

Judging by the guilty look on his face, I'd hit that square on.

"Why would you think that?" Lily asked, startled.

Mewtwo didn't respond, but I could tell that the shame about his past actions was coming back. Although Lily hadn't been there at the time, she understood as well.

"What matters is not twhat you used to be, but what you are now," Lily said gently. Though this didn't cheer Mewto up too much.

An idea came to me. I stood up and left the cave for the first time that morning. Polaris was grazing outside, along with three other Ponyta. The three of them had hatched not long after we'd returned from Orre. Cassiopeia (known as Cassie) was the oldest with vivid orange flames. Orion was the middle with a blazing red mane and tail. And Andromeda (Annie) was the youngest with soft yellow fire. All three of them were shaping up to be quite fast and tough, like Polaris. Ben kept saying that I should take over the world with my Ponyta/Rapidash team.

_You actually came out!_ Orion exclaimed, prancing over to me. I scratched his head, grinning.

_Does that mean it's hatched yet, _Annie asked quietly.

_I doubt that, _Cassie said. _It'll take a while longer, won't it? _

_They usually hatch faster when carried by a trainer, _Polaris noted.

The four Ponyta turned to look at me. I held my hands up. "I won't ask them that. If they want me to, they'll ask."

_It's not like you'll break it, _Orion said.

_You'd be very careful, _Annie agreed.

_They're probably very possessive of their first egg, _Cassie said, nodding knowingly.

_Were you like that, Momma? _Annie asked.

Polaris laughed.

I chuckled too as I shook my head. "No, she wasn't possissive. But she followed me everywhere as I carried all of your eggs around. Anyway, I wanted to do something to make Mewtwo feel better. And I wondered if… waah!"

My pocket rang and I scrambled desperately for my Pokégear. I flicked the phone on.

"Yeah?"

"Cara?" The voice over the phone asked.

I cocked my head, perplexed. I hadn't heard from _him_ in a while. "Lance?"

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "Listen, there's a problem and I think you might be able to help with it. Can you come help me?"

"Oh, sure," I said automatically. "What's the problem?"

Static fizzed momentarily over the phone.

"Hello?" I wasn't sure if the line had gone dead.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Listen, the signal is all messed up. We shouldn't talk on the phone. Can you meet me in front of the gym at Mahogany Town?"

"Mahogany town?" I asked, startled. All the way in Johto?

"Yeah."

"Okay, sure. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Great. I 'll see you then."

The phone cut off. I pocketed it again, more perplexed than ever. I walked into the cave to explain things to Mewtwo and Lily.

A few minutes later, I had my team prepared. Cassie, Orion, and Annie had all insisted on coming, which meant that I needed to leave Polaris behind so I could have some variety In my team. I brought Sage along for my Teleporter and Tahoe as my flier (I didn't use either of my Charizard because last thing I needed was another fire type). For my last slot I brought Leviathan, my Gyarados from back when I was starting my Pokémon journey.

Sage teleported me to Mahogany Town and I made my way to the gym. But no one was there. Confused, I glanced around a bit. I was getting worried that someone would wonder why I was lurking, so I turned to move.

Then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see a man in a black outfit and hat striding past the gym. As he passed me, he gave me a small glance. I followed him as he walked past the edge of town and ducked into the bushes.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice, Lance said, taking his hat off. I realized for the first time that he was wearing a Team Rocket uniform. He'd been covering the huge red R so I couldn't tell before.

"Costume party?" I suggested.

Lance laughed. "Hardly. In fact, you need to change too. Why don't you do that now?"

He tossed me a black shirt and a pair of pants.

I raised my eyebrows, but ducked into the bushes to change.

"Okay," I said emerging once more. "Do I get to hear what the occasion is?"

"As I'm sure you know, the Lake of Rage is just north of here."

"Yeah?"

"Team Rocket has built a base near the shore of the lake. And there's a large radio antenna there as well. This antenna has been broadcasting a strange signal intermittently for the past day or so. The Pokémon within range of the signal have been behaving extremely oddly while this signal has been playing. Most Pokémon simply collapse as though all the strength and will has been sapped from them. But there's one Pokémon that is reacting very differently. People have been evacuated from the lake because of its violent nature. We have reason to believe that it's part of Team Rocket's experiments. We need to shut this antenna down and capture the wild Pokémon."

It took a moment for me to really digest everything he'd said. "I hate Team Rocket," was the first thing I managed to say.

Lance gave a small smile. "Come on, then. Let me show you what we're up against."

He started walking through the bushes towards the lake.

I let Cassie and Orion out and hopped onto Cassie's back.

"Need a lift?" I asked, gesturing to Orion.

"Thank you," Lance said, swinging onto Orion's back.

The two Ponyta trotted through the forest, avoiding the path. We paused in the bushes along the lake sure and Lance and I slid to the ground. We peered out over the water.

"I don't see anything," I whispered.

Lance scanned the lake. "Maybe it went under. I'm sure it'll show up soon enough."

So we waited.

A ripple appeared out across the lake and I saw something bright shimmer beneath the lake. Then something huge erupted from the lake, spraying water in every direction.

A Gyarados.

But it was no ordinary Gyarados. It was a bright red.

"The radio antenna," Lance explained quietly, "seems to be linked to Pokémon evolution. We think they use it to force Pokémon to evolve. The red color of the Gyarados is probably left over from the Magikarp stage it was forced out of,"

I shook my head. "No, that's a shiny Pokémon."

"Shiny?" Lance repeated.

"Yeah. Very rarely, you'll find a Pokémon that's a different color from usual. For example, my Flygon has different colorings because she's shiny. I've only seen a handful of them myself."

"I think I have too," Lance agreed. "I never knew they were called Shiny Pokémon though."

"As far as I know, it's not an official phrase," I admitted. (I think it is now though).

The red Gyarados threw back her head and let out a deafening roar. Orion and Cassie flinched and laid their ears back. Gyarados slammed her head down into the water, sending spray into the air. Then she reared back once more and let out another roar, her eyes shut tight.

"She's acting like she's in pain," I whispered. "Is the radio antenna working?"

Lance shook his head. "No, you should be able to tell when it's on."

"So, what's the plan?"

"We destroy the antenna."

"I'm going to try to catch that Gyarados," I announced.

Lance glaned at me, then nodded. "Yeah, all right. But tell me. What Pokémon do you have with you besides these?" He gestured to two of my Ponyta.

I started to tell him, but I cut off abruptly. My head suddenly started to hurt. I raised a hand to the side of my head. My ears were ringing slightly.

Lance also raised his hand to his head.

"Is that the radio wave?" I muttered, wincing.

Lance nodded. "See?" He pointed to Cassie and Orion, who had dropped to their knees. They slowly sank to the ground, laying on their sides and breathing heavily.

I dropped next to them and placed my hands on their necks. "Shoot! Are you okay? What's wrong?"

With what seemed like a huge effort, Cassie turned her head towards me. _It's… draining… can't move…_

I quickly returned the two of them, rather shaken.

I turned to look at the red Gyarados. She was not reacting the same way as my Ponyta. She was not floating limply in the water, but thrashing around as though in agony.

I hesitated, not sure if what I was about to do was smart. I pulled out Leviathan's Pokéball and sent him into the lake near the shore. I waited nervously to see if the radio signal would hurt him. But all he did was shake his head at the annoying buzzing coming from the tower.

Lance looked at my Gyarados. "I think," he said thoughtfully, "that the wave doesn't usually effect Pokémon that have evolved."

"What about the Red Gyarados?" I asked.

"That might be an exception since it's already linked to their experiment."

I nodded and stepped towards the shore. "Are you feeling okay?"

Leviathan nodded. _Yes. But my ears are ringing. _

I quickly explained the situation to him. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

_Want me to blow up the tower? _

I gave a small smile. "Not yet. Which reminds me. Lance, can we blow that thing up soon?"

Lance held up his hand. He was gazing across the lake. I looked across to where the tower was and saw several people from Team Rocket on the shore, watching the Red Gyarados.

Lance and I slipped into the bushes, forgetting that we were wearing Team Rocket uniforms. Leviathan dove beneath the water. They hadn't seen Lance or I, and Gyarados were common enough in the lake for Leviathan to not be noticed. He slipped silently through the lake and positioned himself near the Rocket base to spy.

_There's a boat! _Leviathan exclaimed.

_A boat?_ I asked, startled. _Where? _

_There's an indoor harbor up against the lake. _

I peered through the bush and saw the bow of a boat appear from the other side of the building.

"They're going after the red gyarados!" I hissed to Lance. We were far enough away that there was no need for whispering, but it was sort of an automatic response.

"They might be using the radio wave to keep the Gyarados in pain so it stays at the surface," Lance said, standing. "I think it's time we made our presence known."

"I was thinking the same thing," I growled darkly, unhooking Tahoe's Pokéball from my belt.

The boat had slid most of the way towards the red Gyarados. She remained on the surface, and flung her head from side to side, still bellowing. As she threw herself against the water, she submerged and surfaced again, roaring once more.

Lance and I threw out our Pokéballs at the same time. Lance sent out his Dragonite. I leapt onto Tahoe's back and we took to the air.

"I'll take the radio tower," Lance called.

"Right," I called back.

Dragonite and Tahoe took off in separate directions. Tahoe and I headed towards the boat that was making for the anguished Gyarados. The fact that we were wearing Team Rocket uniforms meant that the people on the boat didn't attack us. At least not until Lance's Dragonite sent out a Hyper Beam that struck the building and blasted part of it into the woods.

They turned on us at about the same time that I noticed a cannon or something attached to the prow of the ship.

"Look out!"

Tahoe swerved in the air as the rocket exploded and sent something hurling towards us. As the thing swept open, I realized that it was a net.

Tahoe tucked her wings and dove to try to escape the net's clutches, but she wasn't fast enough. Her tail got tangled in the rope.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaa!" I cried as Tahoe was dragged out of the air. The water came rushing towards us as Tahoe struggled desperately against the ropes wrapped around her tail.

Then something rose up out of the water beneath us. A gyarados. For a moment I thought it was one of the wild ones. But then I recognized the broken right horn. Tahoe maneuvered around to land on Leviathan's back.

The moment I had by breath back, I whipped my pocketknife out and cut through the net. Tagoe wriggled free and I jumped on her back once more.

"Thanks, Leviathan," I called to him.

But in the time we had spent freeing ourselves from the net, Team Rocket's boat had reached the Red Gyarados and pointed its net cannon directly at her.

And it fired.

The net bloomed open and stretched towards the Gyarados. Then Leviathan reared up out of the water, right in front of the net. He opened his mouth and sent out Hyper Beam, severing the net in two. His attack also collided with the bow of the boat, blasting the cannon away along with part of the deck. The ship was disabled.

But the two pieces of net were still in motion and they struck Leviathan, tangling him so that he was immobile.

At that moment, there was a deafening explosion. I turned to see half of the building reduced to rubble. The radio tower buckle and then tilted dangerously towards the lake. Its support gave and it splashed down into the water, half of it smashing aganst the bank.

The high-pitched screeching from the antenna stopped.

"Yess!" I hissed triumphantally.

Flygon dipped low and I returned Leviathan to his Pokéball. The nets fell loose and sank into the lake. I sent him out again, free from his bonds. Tahoe landed on his back. We faced the red Gyarados. She had stopped thrashing, but was floating very still, her head bowed low. She seemed to be trembling.

Leviathan coasted backwards a few feet.

"What…" I started, but cut off. My Gyarados was very worried.

The Red Gyarados's eyes snapped open and fastened on the closest thing: Leviathan floating in front of her with Tahoe and I on his back.

She glared at us with pure fury, filled with rage at the pain she had received.

I swore quietly as Gyarados opened her mouth and blasted out Hyper Beam.

Tahoe leapt into the air as Leviathan dove out of the way. The Hyper Beam slashed through the air inches below Tahoe.

The Gyarados lunged after us and sent out another attack. This time a jet of water blasted past us.

Tahoe dove behind the boat, using it as a shield. A second Hyper Beam blasted through the core of the ship, sending depris in every direction. Terrified men and women were flung into the water where they made desperately for shore. Gyarados sent several more attacks at the boat until it was nothing more than flotsam.

It gave me time to send out Sage, Cassia, Orion, and Annie. Now we had to lure the Gyarados towards shore so my land-bound friends could help. Then something came towards us through the air. I flinched, but it was only Lance on his Dragonite.

"What happened!" He called as Dragonite swerved to avoid an attack.

"Help me stop that thing!" I shouted after him.

He nodded and Dragonite soared off.

Leviathan surfaced and lunged at his opponent. He bit down on her neck to hold her in place. But she managed to angle her head down and hit him with Hyper Beam, point blank.

Cursing, I urged Tahoe down towards her. We buzzed around her head, Tahoe dodging the relentless attacks. The whole time, we drew her nearer the shore where the rest of my team was waiting. The moment she was close enough. Dragonite swooped down and used Ice Beam, freezing Gyarados in place. She roared in fury and shot out an attack. Dragonite didn't dodge fast enough and it hit her wing. She spiraled down to land carefully on the shore so that Lance wasn't hurt.

Tahoe darted in and used Dragonbreath against the Gyarados. Then my three Ponyta started firing away with their flame attacks. Sage sent out orbs of Psychic energy.

Gyarados threw her head back, crying out furiously.

Then Dragonite regained her feet and sent out Hyper Beam. It struck Gyarados and sent her keeling into the water.

I didn't wait, but took a Pokéball and dropped it from Tahoe's back. The massive Pokémon disappeared in a flash of red light and the Pokébll splashed to the water. It twitched on the lake surface, sending ripples expanding outwards, but suddenly exploded open and the Gyraados appeared again.

She was weak. It was easy to tell. But she was still raging mad. She didn't want anything to do with humans, and that kept her going.

Tahoe swooped down again and used another Dragonbreath.

Sage used Teleport, landing directly on the raging serpent's back. Before the Gyarados could react, my Gardevoir had used Hypnosis before quickly teleporting back to shore.

And once more the Gyarados keeled over.

Tahoe swooped down and I threw a second Pokéball. And this time the ball stayed shut.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Tahoe dipped down and gently lifted the Pokéball from the water. We landed next to the others.

"Good job," Lance said, smiling.

I let out a gaspd and slumped against Annie's side. Tahoe handed me the Pokéball.

"You might have your hands full with this one," Lance said, looking at the orb that contained the red Gyarados.

"I bet," I groaned. Leviathan arrived at the shore, looking a bit battered, but in general, okay. I walked over to pat himm in the head. "Not all Gyarados are as nice as my guy here. Come to think of it, he actually evolved to help against Team Rocket. Didn't ya, boy?"

Gyarados gave a small, happy grumble.

My voice turned grave again. "But this one will be hard to calm down. It'll be hard to get her to trust anyone."

"You'll get it eventually," Lance assured me.

"Bleh. I hope so. But I'll need my Pokémon to help."

"Are you going to name her?" Lance inquired.

I looked down at the Pokéball and thought. For once, the name came to me rather easily.

"Peliroja," I said. "It's Spanish. It means a red-headed girl."

"I'd say that's appropriate," Lance agreed.

"She's not the only newcomer you're going to have to worry about," Cassie reminded me.

I stared at her blankly for a moment. Then comprehension dawned.

"Aah! The egg!"


	19. Gold and Silver

I was debating about whether or not I should do this chapter. The lack of the resolution of this topic in the anime always bugged me, but my original chapter was so uninteresting that I didn't think it was worth it. Except I found a way to make it more interesting. So, here goes anyway.

Only one chapter left after this!

This fanfic is shorter than my other 2 Cara fanfics. Oh well. Part 4 will begin shortly after. I'll do my best to keep it interesting. Though the next Cara fanfic will be different for most of it.

Thanks again for all you who read my fanfic and comment on it!

Lily-Mewtwo, Cassie-Ponyta, Orion-Ponyta, -Annie-Ponyta, Tahoe-Flygon(shiny), Charren-Charizard, Sage-Gardevoir, Leviathan-Gyarados, Peliroja-red Gyarados.

* * *

><p>Gold and Silver<p>

Of course there was no reason for me to hurry home. The egg hadn't hatched yet, nor did it seem to be close to hatching. It was only about a day old.

It was late when I returned to Avalon, so I decided not to let the red Gyarados out yet. I didn't want to deal with the same raging Pokémon twice in one day. And I was tired. So tired that I passed out in Mewtwo's cave instead of in my bed.

I spent the next couple days lurking near Mewtwo's cave. Until I was interrupted again by the accursed phone again.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Ah, I'm glad I reached you, Cara."

Whaddya know. Professor Oak. "Hi, Professor. What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could ask you a favor, actually."

Of course he did. Figures that I get all these requests when I want to stay next to the egg! "What kind of favor?" I asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"I was wondering if you could pick something up for me, from Kurt in Azalea Town."

Johto again? This is supposed to be a Hoenn fanfiction!

"You need me to pick it up?" I repeated.

"I would ask someone else, but there's no one in the area that I trust to deliver it. And I know that you can get around quickly," Professor Oak replied. "What I need you to deliver is called the GS ball. It's an ancient Pokéball that we've been researching for several months. But no one can figure out how to open it. Kurt, being a Pokéball exptert, has had it for some time. But he can't figure it out either. And for some reason the Pokéball won't be transported in a Pokéball transfer machine. But there actually another reason I'd like you to deliver it. Since you can speak to Pokémon, I was wondering if you could try talking to whatever's in there, if anything."

"Oh, uh, sure, I guess. Who am I delivering it to?"

"You can bring it back to me. There's someone that's coming to visit me, and I'd like them to look at the GS ball while they're here."

So, from Johto to Kanto. Ugh. How long would that take? What if the egg hatched while I was away? Mewtwo would probably tell me the moment he noticed something. And I could teleport back to Avalon.

"Okay. I'll look at your Pokéball," I promised.

"Thank you, Cara," Professor Oak said, relieved. "I was running out of options, and I wasn't sure who else to turn to."

"Sure. I'll get it there as soon as I can. It shouldn't take too long if I fly."

So, I went back to the house and pulled out my map to check the shortest route. Yeah, like I thought, the train was kinda out of the way. It would probably be faster to fly directly from Azalea to Pallet Town. If I went over the ocean, I wouldn't have to go over the Tohjo Mountains.

I grumbled. How annoying! Lance at least had only taken up part of a day! And Peliroja, at least, wasn't tearing apart Avalon. Leviathan and the clone Gyarados were doing a pretty good job of keeping her in check.

I went and told Ben where I was going, and then I went to assemble my team.

I reluctantly gave into the pleas of Cassie, Orion, and Annie and let my three Ponyta accompany me. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate them offering to come, but they did make my team rather vulnerable to a few types. I also brought Tahoe and Sage. I wondered if things would be easy enough teleport directly from Kurt's house to Professor Oak's lab. But that might not work since apparently the GS ball couldn't be transferred by transporter machine. It might be worth a try, at least.

I went back to check on the egg once more.

"I'll be back in a couple days," I said to Mewtwo and Lily as I set my hand on the warm egg.

"Take care," Lily said, escorting me to the cave exit. I set my pack down as I went to see Polaris, who was still near the cave.

"Sorry you're not coming again," I sighed. "The little ones are too pushy. Practically my whole team is fire type."

Polaris laughed. _Hopefully no water or rock monsters will attack you. _

I flinched. "That would be bad."

I let Sage out of her Pokéball and went to retrieve by bag.

"I think I packed too much," I muttered, hefting the heavy pack onto my shoulders. "Okay, Sage. Can you take us to Azalea Town?"

"Gar!" Sage exclaimed. I waved to Lily, Mewtwo, and Polaris, and then Avalon disappeared.

And we were standing in front of the Azalea City Pokémon Center.

I returned Sage and headed to Kurt's house. I thought absently that I'd pick up some of his special Pokéballs while I was there. I needed to replenish my stocks.

I arrived at Kurt's house and knocked on the door. Kurt's granddaughter answered.

"Hi," I said. "I'm supposed to pick something up from Kurt?"

She nodded and turned to look into the house.

"Grandpa! The lady's here to pick up the Pokéball!"

"Go ahead and let her in," came Kurt's voice.

The girl threw the door wide and let me walk in.

"Hi," I said, waving to Kurt.

"Oh, you've come here before, haven't you?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, I've gotten some Pokéballs from you."

"You're here for the GS ball, right?"

"Yeah. Professor Oak sent me."

"I have it right here." He walked over to his cluttered worktable and lifted the shining gold and silver Pokéball. The letters G and S were engraved near the button. "I've done everything I can think of, but the Pokéball won't open," Kurt sighed.

"What did you do?" I asked curiously.

"Well, the professor that had it before me used saws and hammers and all manner of tools. I've tried heating it in the furnace and using my Pokéball tools on it."

I raised my eyebrows and found myself thinking wryly, _did anyone try tossing the Pokéball out like they would a normal Pokéball? _

I took the GS ball from him. "I'll get it to Professor Oak," I assured him. "But I also thought I'd order some of your Pokéballs while I was here."

"Sure thing. If you could fill out one of those forms over there, that would be great."

I set the GS Ball down and quickly filled out one of Kurt's forms.

"You can come back in a week. I should have them done by then," Kurt said. "I have a lot of work now, or I'd get them to you sooner."

"No hurry," I said. "Thanks."

"Thank you too. Tell the professor to keep in touch with me about whatever they learn."

"Right."

I took the GS ball, waved goodbye to Kurt's granddaughter, and left the house. As I stepped into the street, I slung my pack off to stow the GS ball safely inside. But as I unzipped the pack, I let out a horrified shout.

It was there, nestled down in my jacket, the blue flames flickering under its lavender surface.

The Mewtwo egg.

Several people stopped to stare at me, startled by my shout. I hurried off the road and into the bushes. The moment I was out of sight, I reached out telepathically.

_Mewtwo! _I wailed loudly. _Why is it here? Why is it in my pack! _

_I see you're as terrified as I was, _Mewtwo said very dryly. _I think Lily did it, though she won't admit it. _

_Why would she do that? _I cried frantically. _Avalon is safe! _My mind automatically traveled over all of the disasters I'd faced on my travels, wondering what would happen this time.

_I think she wanted the egg to travel, _Mewtwo muttered soundinggrumpy and irritable. _Since eggs are said to hatch better if a trainer carries it. _

_I could carry it around Avalon too! Should I bring it home now? _I asked.

There was a pause. _You'll take good care of it. _It wasn't a question.

_But you never know what's gonna happen out here! _

Andother pause. _I trust you. _And he cut off the link.

I stood stunned, my mouth open slightly. I tried to think if he'd ever said that before. I shook my head and sent Tahoe out.

"Okay, we're going to Pallett Town! Let's get there as soon as possible!"

Tahoe nodded and I hopped onto her back. I held my pack close, not wanting the precious egg to be more than a couple inches away from me. The GS ball was nestled next to it, wrapped in my jacket.

Which reminded me, I'd promised to see if I could talk to whatever was in the GS ball.

I reached out with my telepathy. _Hello? Is anyone there? _

There was no reply, but I did feel the faintest stirring from somewhere inside the Pokéball.I tried again, but still nothing. I didn't give up though. Something was in there. I just needed to reach it.

I called out gently over and over again, trying to wake whatever was in its deep sleep. Below us, Johto slid past. I saw Cherrygrove to the north. We were making good time. The wind was with us.

I called out once more, and too my surprise, a voice finally answered.

_Who are you? _

_Oh, my name's Cara. _

_You can talk to me? Even when I'm inside here? _

_I guess so. I have some psychic powers. What about you? Who are you? _

_My name's Garnet. _

_It's nice to meet you. What kind of Pokémon are you? _

He didn't respond to my question. Instead he said, _Are you gonna make loud noises again? _

_Loud noises? _

_Yeah. Recently all these scary sounds and vibrations have been coming through. I locked my Pokéball shut so they couldn't get in. _

I wondered what he was talking about. And then I remembered what Professor Oak and Kurt had said. They'd hammered and sawed and chiseled away at the Pokéball. Wow. Their attempts only made their goal even more impossible.

We passed New Bark Town and Tahoe angled to glide over the ocean towards Pallet Town.

_If I promised no one else would do strange stuff to your Pokéball, would you come out? _

The Pokémon hesitated. _I dunno. I haven't been out in a really long time. I might not be able to open the Pokéball anymore now that I've tried to lock it. And… I don't know what's out there. _

_We wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, _I promised. _Is there anything I can do to help you out? _

_I don't know. I'll see what I can do. I'll check back with you later. _

In the distance I saw Tohjo falls. Not wanting to disturb the Pokémon inside the GS ball, I turned my attention to the egg. I'd never tried talking to an egg before. But if I could talk to a Pokémon that had been asleep in a Pokéball for decades, why not an egg?

I reached out with my telepathy and gently touched the egg. I felt more than heard a happy sigh, and a slight shifting.

I smiled and hugged the pack a little closer.

Before I knew it, Pallet Town had appeared on the horizon. Tahoe gave a little cry and angled downwards. I gave thanks that it had gone so much faster than I had planned.

We landed in front of Professor Oak's lab and I returned Tahoe. I knocked on the door and waited. I cocked my head, confused at the lack of a response. I knocked again, louder. Still nothing. I hesitated, then turned the knob and pushed the door open.

The lights were out and my eyes weren't adjusted to the dim light. Maybe Professor Oak was out with the Pokémon in the fields? He might not have expected me so soon. For some reason, the back of my neck prickled. I got ready to turn around and leave. No sooner had I turned my back on the room than something slammed hard into the back of my head and I crumpled to the ground. Fireworks exploded in front of my eyes and my head rang painfully.

Before I knew what was happening, someone wrenched my pack out of my arms and dragged me to my feet, tying my hands behind my back. By the time I regained my senses enough to fight back, I was securely tied.

The captor dragged me into the lab. I tried to kick out, but I wasn't at a good enough angle to hit. The person dumped me roughly on the ground. I landed face-first on the floor. And felt them pull my Pokéballs off of my belt. I tried to wriggle around to a more dignified position.

"Are you okay?" said a familiar voice beside me.

Still on my belly, I twisted my head around to see Professor Oak tied up next to me. There was a woman beside him, also bound.

I managed to flop onto my back and wriggle to a sitting position.

"Got a headache," I mumbled darkly.

And I turned my attention to our captors.

There were two men standing in front of us. The taller one was holding my pack. He tossed it carelessly onto the table next to my Pokéballs.

"Be careful with that!" I shouted, thinking of the fragile egg nestled inside.

"Ooh, why? Do you have something valuable inside?" the short man asked. He picked up my pack and began to unzip it.

"Get out of there!" I snarled, levering myself onto my feet and preparing to throw myself at him. But the tall guy got to me and pushed me painfully back to the ground.

"What's this?" Shorty asked, unfolding my jacket to see the smooth surface of the egg.

"If you hurt it, it's Dad will kill you," I said, deadly serious. The two men seemed to understand that I wasn't joking, because Shorty set my pack down again.

"Why would we break it when we could hatch it?" Shorty asked, as though offended,

"You won't have much luck stealing the Pokémon here," Professor Oak said. "There's far too many for you to fight them all at once, and they'll defend each other."

"When all their Pokéballs are right here?" Tall Guy said. "We can just return them."

"That would still take a long time," the woman next to the Professor said. "Do you think you could return them all before at least some of them attacked you?"

"Imagine that," scoffed Tall Guy. "She's concerned for our welfare. You don't need to worry, sweetie. We can take care of ourselves."

I took advantage of their conversation. These morons didn't know who they were messing with.

_Hey, guys, _I called telepathically. _I'm in a bit of a situation here. I'm all tied up. I need your help. _

My team assented, and quite suddenly, three Ponyta, a Flygon, and a Gardevoir burst out of the pokeballs on the table.

Professor Oak, the woman, and the two men all cried out, startled, as the room was filled with my Pokémon. My team glared menacingly at our captors.

The two men swore and quickly pulled out Pokéballs of their own. Sage would have stopped them, but she was currently using her powers to untie all of us. Golem, Quagsire, Aggron, Relicanth, and Dusclops all appeared. I cursed the fact that they had a significant type advantage.

"Cara," Professor Oak said quietly, "is there any chance of moving this battle outside? This could be rather destructive to the lab."

In response, Sage used Teleport. Our entire party shifted instantly to the field outside of the lab. The Pokémon that were nearby scattered in alarm, and some doubled back to see what was going on.

_Try to keep away from your weaknesses as much as possible, guys, _I said rather tensely. I knew very well that Cassie, Orion, and Annie were still young and nowhere near their peak fighting levels.

My three Ponyta started the battle with a tri-powered burst of flame to blind their opponents, and then they charged forwards. Flygon swooped down to try to deflect some of the dangerous water attacks from my fire trio.

I drew my attention away from the battle and scanned the area to try to find out where my pack had gone. I needed to get the egg back. But I didn't see it anywhere. It must have been left inside when we all teleported. And now there was a heated battle between me and the lab. There was nothing else to do. I grit my teeth and plunged forwards.

"What are you doing!" Professor Oak shouted behind me. I ignored him and vaulted over Quagsire's head, confusing him enough for Cassie to get in a good kick.

A Waterfall from Relicanth washed me off of my feet where I narrowly avoided being trampled by Golem. Sage used Psychic to push me the rest of the way out of the battle, but she quickly turned her attention to Relicanth as she tried to shield Annie from another water attack. I fled the battle and threw open the side door to the lab and took a couple steps. I realized right away that this did not lead into the room where we had been tied up. I cursed. I didn't really know my way around the lab. Maybe I should just go around to the front.

I turned around to head back out, but I froze and backed up several steps. Dusclops was phasing through the wall and heading right at me.

"Clops," he moaned sinisterly. He blasted Shadow Ball directly at my head. I threw myself to the floor and scrambled back to my feet, fleeing down the hallway. I heard Dusclops behind me and ducked to avoid another Shadow Ball. It blasted through the wall and left scorch marks around the hole.

I half-ran, half-crawled several feet until I turned a corner and found two doors in front of me. I threw one open just as I heard the rushing sound of an approaching Shadow Ball. This time I wasn't in time to dodge. The attack hit me square in the back. The burning, icy chill cut through my core as the attack slammed me forwards into the door. I crumpled to the ground and lay stunned for a moment. Dusclops loomed up over me. It scared me to my senses and I somehow managed to crawl-hop a few feet to one direction where I crashed head-first into a chair. I looked up and found that we were in the room we had been captured in. So that meant… yes. My pack was still on the table across the room.

I used the chair to drag myself to my feet. I heard the telltale rushing sound and flung myself away from the chair. It shattered to splinters behind me. I stumbled across the room and heard Dusclops inhale, preparing to launch another attack. I gathered myself and leapt forwards, clearing the table and wrapping my arms around my pack. As the floor came rushing towards me, I desperately tried to twist around so I wouldn't crush the egg. It kind of worked, but I crushed my arm beneath me and yelped in pain.

Dusclops stomped closer to me. I cursed and desperately tried to think of a way to get him away from me. My hand touched the warm, smooth surface of the egg through my open pack. Then I felt something cold. A Pokéball. The habit was so deeply ingrained that my fingers closed around it automatically before I realized what it was I was holding. But some part of my subconscious must have registered it, because as I threw the GS ball, I called telepathically_, help me, PLEASE!_

The GS ball burst open in a blaze of gold and silver light. Something small and red spun into the air and faced Dusclops.

"Biiiiiiiiiii!" he shouted, and blasted a beam of psychic energy at the unprepared Dusclops. It hit dead center, followed by a powerful Psychic attack. Dusclops crumpled to the ground.

Wincing from my multiple injuries, I dragged myself to my feet, holding the egg to my shivering body.

A Celebi. A shiny Celebi.

He turned to face me and smiled.

"G-Garnet, right?" I stammered.

Garnet nodded.

"Thanks for your help," I said shakily, supporting myself against the desk.

_No problem. Thanks for helping me get out of there. _

"Is it okay if I ask for another favor? My friends are still battling outside. They might need help."

_That shouldn't be too hard, _Garnet replied. _Let me help you. _

He used his psychic powers to lift me off the floor. He opened the front door, and the two of us went gliding outside.

As the battle came into view, I saw that Cassie was standing over Annie. Annie had fallen to the ground and seemed to hurt to stand again. Tahoe had fallen too. But our opponents had faced heavy casualties as well. Only the Aggron was left of our oponent's team. Orion was breathing heavily and trembling as he tried to face down the Aggron. Sage didn't look much better. A couple Pokémon from the lab were scattered around as well. It seemed that some of them had come to help. Most of them had fared rather badly, but a Fearow was flying overhead, ready to swoop down to attack again.

Garnet shot forwards and summoned Ancient Power. The earth rose up and rushed at Aggron. The weakened foe fell under the force of the attack.

The two men stood stunned for half a moment at the abrupt arrival of the Pokémon who had so easily done them in. They turned, ready, to flee, but Sage teleported in front of them and used Hypnosis. They crashed to the ground, snoring soundly.

Garnet set me gently on the ground and gave my injured arm a tap. Instantly the pain went away. He repeated the gesture with my head and my back so that I was feeling perfectly fine.

"Thanks," I said gratefully.

"Bi!" Garnet exclaimed.

I turned to see Professor Oak and his friend staring at me, rather stunned. Or rather, staring at Garnet.

"Oh," I said, wondering how to explain this. "See… the Pokéball just kind of came open when I asked it to, and… he came out," I finished lamely.

…

It was a while before I could escape from the lab. Professor Oak and the woman professor questioned me constantly about the GS. Garnet had disappeared earlier, presumably to fly around outside. I hoped that he hadn't left for good.

Until evening, I held my pack with the egg close to me, determined not to let it leave my grasp.

Fortunately the Professor had a healing machine, so I let my team recover. And Officer Jenny had come to arrest the two men.

It was dark by the time they let me go, though they were far from out of questions. I didn't even know the answers to pretty much all of them, so I was annoyed that they'd made me stay so long.

Garnet reappeared beside me once I was alone. I was relieved that he was still around.

"Hey, thanks again," I said to him.

He nodded.

"What will you do now?" I asked.

_I thought I'd explore for a while. See how the world's changed. _

I nodded. "I hope you have a great time. If you ever need anywhere to rest, you can come visit us on Avalon."

_Maybe, _he agreed.

"Do you want this?" I asked, holding out the GS ball. I wasn't entirely sure Professor Oak knew I'd taken it with me.

_You keep it for me, _Garnet replied. _If I ever need it for some reason, I know where to look. _

"Sure. Have a nice trip!"

"Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Garnet called. He gave a final wave, and flew off into the night.

Sage teleported me back to Avalon and I trudged to Mewtwo's cave. Mewtwo seemed to materialize out of the air beside me.

"Eep!" I squeaked.

"How did it go?" He asked.

My eyes got very round and I opened and shut my mouth a couple times before I said "fine." Or at least, that's what I meant to say. Instead it came out as an odd, high-pitched squeak. I coughed rather louder than was called for, and repeated, "fine." This time it came out as a hoarse croak.

Before I made a bigger fool out of myself, I held the egg out to a quizzical Mewtwo. I turned and started to walk away rather quickly.

It took me a couple seconds to realize that my feet weren't touching the ground. In fact, I was floating backwards.

"Eeeyaaaaa!" I squealed, flailing my legs in a failed run.

Mewtwo turned me around to face him and stared at me for several seconds.

"So, who helped you out of your disaster this time?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped, my mouth hanging open. I dropped my head. "Celebi," I muttered. I raised my head to look at him again. I started talking very quickly. "But it wasn't my fault, really! Those three keep wanting to come with me so my team is all fire type !

Mewtwo stared blankly at me before setting me on the ground. He sighed. "You can tell me tomorrow when you're a little more coherent."

He turned and walked away to bring the egg back to the protected cave. I stood there for about a minute before heading back to the house.


	20. Twilight

Thank you all for coming this far with me! I hope you'll all read the next installment of Cara's journey as the theme kinda switches to Sinnoh. I've got big freaking evil projects due next week, so I might not start it for a couple weeks. But it's coming soon! I have rough drafts of most of it down already.

* * *

><p>Twilight<p>

It was getting close. Very close. We could all tell. When I put my ear against the warm, smooth surface of the egg, I could hear shifting sounds inside. Any time now.

If Mewtwo and I were on edge before, it was nothing compared to how we were now. Lily, as usual, remained very calm.

But then I started getting worried about something else. As I approached the cave one morning, I saw that Mewtwo was sitting outside again. He remained outside the cave constantly, as though guarding the place from a danger that was unlikely to appear. But I knew that wasn't why he was outside. He was afraid. Lily and I had realized before that he was afraid that the little one would hate him because of what he'd almost done. I was hoping that he'd be able to get over it himself.

But we were running out of time. Where would this fear lead him? Would he run away? Start traveling again? My stomach clenched at the thought. I had to do something. Deep, desperate emotions like that can often lead to bad ends. And Mewtwo didn't need anymore suffering. He'd had more than a lifetime's worth already.

I stopped outside of the cave with Polaris, Cassie, Annie, and Orion. I watched Mewtwo from a distance and draped myself over Polaris's back, trying to think. I'd thought of something a few days ago, before Lance called about the red Gyarados. Maybe if I improved on that…

"Polaris," I said, swinging up onto her back, "take me to the glade."

She glanced back at me and nodded. She took off at a trot away from the cave, through the woods.

Mewtwo's cave wasn't exactly close to our destination so it took a while to get there. There weren't many Pokémon there when we arrived. The glade served as a sort of hatching grounds for several of the Pokémon at Avalon. The first to use it were Mewtwo's clones, though most of their first hatchlings were older now. Right now the only baby clone was a Ninetales (yes, a baby Ninetales, not a baby Vulpix – that's how clones work for some reason).

The baby Ninetales playing with Pexle, my Ninetales. I'd caught him as a Vulpix not long after starting my Pokémon journey. I scratched his ears and stroked his long, silky fur. Then I lifted the baby Ninetales and tucked her under my arm. She wriggled a bit, wanting to play more. I climbed back onto Polaris's back, and we trotted back to the cave. Pexle decided to accompany us. The baby Ninetales clung to my shoulder, looking around interestedly. During the ride, I rehearsed what I was going to say.

Mewtwo was where we'd left him, sitting outside the cave and looking off in the distance. I slid off of Polaris's back and set the little Ninetales on her shoulders. "Wait here," I told them. The baby curled up and watched, and Pexle sat beside them, his beautiful tails swaying rhythmically.

I walked towards Mewtwo and glanced into the cave where Lily was with the egg. I sat down next to him, and for a minute, I didn't say anything or even look at him. I wasn't sure if he'd looked at me either. Finally I took a deep breath and started speaking. For some reason I found it hard to keep my voice even.

"A lot's happened. It's been close to two years, right? I still remember it very vividly. When Mew came to my dreams and linked them with yours. I dreamt everything you felt when you first woke. I felt all the rage and hate to the humans who only wanted to study you. I realized that something dangerous was brewing, and I managed to get to New Island when you created your storm. You were still full of rage and hate. I understood why you could feel that way, because I'd felt it all too. All you'd ever seen was evil. No one had ever shown you anything beautiful. So when you finally saw it, some of that hatred melted. And when you traveled around the world, you saw more of its beauty. You've changed. You're not the same person you were back then."

I still wasn't looking at Mewtwo, but it felt like he was starting at me. I took a deep breath and continued. "You can smile now. And even laugh. You've learned to love, and you have many friends. You've also saved us several times. Especially me." I gave a small, rather raspy laugh. "You're one of my best friends. I try not to rank my friends by favorites, but…" I trailed off and laughed, finally turning to him. "I feel really sappy."

Mewtwo took a couple seconds to gather his words. He smiled wryly. "That's okay. You often are."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "What I'm trying to say is it doesn't matter what you started as. It matters what you became. What you are now. No one here is going to think any less of you because of what you used to be. If anything, the fact that you managed to climb out of that rut you were stuck in should make you all the more commendable."

Polaris walked over to us, and the baby Ninetales jumped into my arms. Without warning, I dumped the fluffy puppy into Mewtwo's lap.

"See?" I said as Ninetales batted at Mewtwo's feet and chewed playfully on his forearm. "She doesn't care about any of the past. And neither will the little one." I gestured to the cave where Lily was listening quietly. Then I noticed that Pexle, Polaris, Cassie, Annie, and Orion were all watching me too.

But that wasn't all. Ben was there too. He'd probably been there since I returned with Ninetales, and I just hadn't noticed. And Hari was sitting in the tree above him. They were watching me with fascination.

I turned bright red, turned, and dove into the cave. I hadn't expected any humans to hear my stupid speech. Hari was one thing (being more like a Pokémon than a human), but Ben?

I heard a small laugh and looked up to see Lily.

"I don't think you need to be ashamed of anything," she said.

"Bleh," I replied. "I just gave the sappiest speech in history. I thought only Pokémon would be listening." I banged my head against the cave wall a couple times before Lily lifted me away with her psychic powers and set me down next to the egg. I wrapped my arms around it and gave it a hug.

"I don't think you said anything you need to be ashamed of," she repeated. "Anyway, I think we have a visitor. You should come out and see." She stepped out of the cave. Mewtwo was standing there, holding the baby Ninetales. He didn't look depressed anymore, which made me happy.

I met Polaris's eyes, and she gave me a very meaningful look. I cocked my head, not sure what she was trying to tell me. Then she jerked her head upwards, and I realized what she was trying to say. I nodded and tucked the egg safely under one arm. I walked very deliberately to the cave entrance.

The moment I stepped outside, something pink dive-bombed me. But thanks to Polaris, I was ready. I reached out with my free arm and grabbed Mew out of thin air.

She squealed in friendly terror as her ambush backfired.

I looked down at my prisoner. "You should be careful attacking people when they're holding eggs," I told her.

_Mewtwo would have caught it if you dropped it. He knew I was here. _

"And when, pray, did you get here?" I asked, wondering if she too had been present for my minute of embarrassing dialogue.

_Just a minute ago. _She wriggled free from my grasp and floated in front of me. _I got word that someone special should be arriving soon. _She gestured at the egg cradled in my arm.

"I'm glad you came, Mew," I said. "I haven't seen you since Ilex Forest."

Mew nodded. _It seems we're both rather busy. _

"You can say that again," I sighed.

"I liked your speech, Cara," Hari said. He and Ben had come up to greet Mew.

"I liked your reaction when you found out we heard your speech," Ben teased. "I haven't seen you that red in a long time."

"Ha ha," I said dryly. I poked him in the ribs, making him squeak.

_Speech? _Mew repeated.

"Don't ask," I muttered.

"I can tell it to you if you want," Hari offered.

"No!"

Everyone around me laughed. Even I smiled guiltily. Then suddenly my mouth fell open. I tilted my head down to look at the egg. I had just felt a big flop from inside it. I slowly looked up at everyone. "I think… it's close! _Really close_!"

_Close! Close! _Mew exclaimed. _I'll hurry and get everyone! _Without another word, she was gone.

"Get who?" I asked the blank air. But something in the egg flip-flopped again. I dropped to my knees and set the egg on the soft grass in front of me. Lily and Mewtwo knelt at either side of me. Ben and Hari peered over my shoulders, and my Ponyta watched from behind the pair of Mewtwo.

There was a crackling sound, and a spider web of cracks appeared on the surface of the egg. I barely noticed as Mew landed on my shoulder to watch. My entire attention was focused on the expanding cracks on the egg's shell. Then suddenly the egg began to glow. The bright orb began to change shape. A tail unfolded from the back, and arms and legs took form, crossed in front of the tiny body. The light faded, revealing the small purple form.

The little body uncurled from its tight ball and sat there, slightly confused. He looked up at us and cocked his head.

Oh my god! Soooooooooooooooo cute! He's so adorable! He needs to be hugged!

I managed to restrain myself. I wasn't the real mom here.

"H-hi," he said.

That was it. I couldn't hold back. I snatched him up in a hug. "Oh my god! You're too cute! You're the most adorable thing ever!"

"Aww, he really is!" Hari agreed.

"Even I'll have to admit that," Ben said, smiling.

I let the baby Mewtwo go, and he blinked up at us. He still seemed slightly confused about the whole "world" thing. I gave an apologetic smile to Lily and Mewtwo, but they didn't even seem to notice. Lily picked him up and hugged him also.

"Hi," he repeated.

Littletwo, I thought to myself. It would never do for a real name, but it was a cute nickname.

Lily rubbed Littletwo's head, and he shut his eyes contentedly. The she handed him to a startled Mewtwo. Littletwo smiled up at him, and Mewtwo's face broke into a real smile. I grinned too. Then I looked up and saw a thick crowd of Pokémon surrounding us. For a moment I was startled. Where had they all come from? But of course. Mew had teleported them here. All of Mewtwo's clones were present, as well as several of the main players on my team. Littletwo was getting a huge welcome to the world. Hopefully we wouldn't overwhelm the little guy.

A name. He needs a real name. I can't call him Littletwo his entire life.

Ben and Hari knelt beside me to get a closer look at Littletwo. I jumped on them both, surprising all of us, and I hugged them. When we managed to untangle ourselves, from the heap of arms and legs, I looked up at Mewtwo, Lily, and the baby. All three of them were smiling happily.

"Twilight. I think that'll do nicely. Your name can be Twilight."


End file.
